1、初中英语作文感恩节篇一：Almost every culture in the world has held celebrations of thanks for a plentiful harvest. The American Thanksgiving holiday began as a feast of thanksgiving in the early days of the American colonies almost four hundred years ago.In 1620, a boat filled with more than one hundred people
2、sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to settle in the New World(新大陆). This religious group had begun to question the beliefs of the Church of England and they wanted to separate from it. The Pilgrims settled in what is now the state of Massachusetts. Their first winter in the New World was difficult. Th
3、ey had arrived too late to grow many crops, and without fresh food, half the colony died from disease. The following spring the Iroquois Indians(美国纽约州东北部易洛魁族印第安人)taught them how to grow corn, a new food for the colonists. They showed them other crops to grow in the unfamiliar soil and how to hunt an
4、d fish.In the autumn of 1621, bountiful crops of corn, barley(大麦), beans and pumpkins were harvested. The colonists had much to be thankful for, so a feast was planned. They invited the local Indian chief and 90 Indians. The Indians brought deer to roast with the turkeys and other wild game offered
5、by the colonists. The colonists had learned how to cook cranberries and different kinds of corn and squash dishes from the Indians. To this first Thanksgiving, the Indians had even brought popcorn.In following years, many of the original colonists celebrated the autumn harvest with a feast of thanks
6、.After the United States became an independent country, Congress recommended one yearly day of thanksgiving for the whole nation to celebrate. George Washington suggested the date November 26 as Thanksgiving Day. Then in 1863, at the end of a long and bloody civil war, Abraham Lincoln asked all Amer
7、icans to set aside the last Thursday in November as a day of thanksgiving.Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of November, a different date every year. The President must proclaim that date as the official celebration.Thanksgiving is a time for tradition and sharing. Even if they live far away
8、, family members gather for a reunion at the house of an older relative. All give thanks together for the good things that they have.In this spirit of sharing, civic groups and charitable organizations offer a traditional meal to those in need, particularly the homeless. On most tables throughout th
9、e United States, foods eaten at the first thanksgiving have become traditional.Turkey, corn, pumpkins and cranberry sauce(酸果曼沙司)are symbols which represent the first Thanksgiving. Now all of these symbols are drawn on holiday decorations and greeting cards. The use of corn meant the survival of the
10、colonies. “Indian corn“ as a table or door decoration represents the harvest and the fall season.Sweet-sour cranberry sauce, or cranberry jelly, was on the first Thanksgiving table and is still served today. The cranberry is a small, sour berry. It grows in bogs(沼泽), or muddy areas, in Massachusetts
11、 and other New England states. The Indians used the fruit to treat infections. They used the juice to dye their rugs and blankets. They taught the colonists how to cook the berries with sweetener(甜味佐料)and water to make a sauce. The Indians called it “ibimi“ which means “bitter berry.“ When the colon
12、ists saw it, they named it “crane-berry“ because the flowers of the berry bent the stalk over, and it resembled the long-necked bird called a crane. The berries are still grown in New England.In 1988, a Thanksgiving ceremony of a different kind took place at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Mor
13、e than four thousand people gathered on Thanksgiving night. Among them were Native Americans representing tribes from all over the country and descendants of people whose ancestors had migrated to the New World.The ceremony was a public acknowledgment of the Indians role in the first Thanksgiving 35
14、0 years ago. Until recently most schoolchildren believed that the Pilgrims cooked the entire Thanksgiving feast, and offered it to the Indians. In fact, the feast was planned to thank the Indians for teaching them how to cook those foods. Without the Indians, the first settlers would not have surviv
15、ed.篇二：Thanksgiving Day is traditionally a day for families and friends to get together for a special meal. The meal often includes a turkey, stuffing, potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy, pumpkin pie, and vegetables. Thanksgiving Day is a time for many people to give thanks for what they have.Thanksgiv
16、ing Day parades are held in some cities and towns on or around Thanksgiving Day. Some parades or festivities also mark the opening of the Christmas shopping season. Some people have a four-day weekend so it is a popular time for trips and to visit family and Public LifeMost government offices, busin
17、esses, schools and other organizations are closed on Thanksgiving Day. Many offices and businesses allow staff to have a four-day weekend so these offices and businesses are also closed on the Friday after Thanksgiving Day. Public transit systems do not usually operate on their regular timetables.Th
18、anksgiving Day it is one of the busiest periods for travel in the USA. This can cause congestion and overcrowding. Seasonal parades and busy football games can cause disruption to local traffic.Thanksgiving Day has been an annual holiday in the United States since 1863. Not everyone sees Thanksgivin
19、g Day as a cause for celebration. Each year since 1970, a group of Native Americans and their supporters have staged a protest for a National Day of Mourning at Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts on Thanksgiving Day. American Indian Heritage Day is also observed at this time of the year.There
20、are claims that the first Thanksgiving Day was held in the city of El Paso, Texas in 1598. Another early event was held in 1619 in the Virginia Colony. Many people trace the origins of the modern Thanksgiving Day to the harvest celebration that the Pilgrims held in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621. H
21、owever, their first true thanksgiving was in 1623, when they gave thanks for rain that ended a drought. These early thanksgivings took the form of a special church service, rather than a feast.In the second half of the 1600s, thanksgivings after the harvest became more common and started to become annual events. However, it was celebrated on different days in different communities and in some places there were more than one thanksgiving each year. George Washington, the first president of the United States, proclaimed the first national Thanksgiving Day in 1789.
