Thanksgiving Day is the most truly American of the national Holidays in the United States and is most closely connected with the earliest history of the country.

In 1620， the settlers， or Pilgrims， they sailed to America on the May flower， seeking a place where they could have freedom of worship. After a tempestuous two-month voyage they landed at in icy November， what is now Plymouth， Massachusetts.

During their first winter， over half of the settlers died of[1] starvation or epidemics. Those who survived began sowing in the first spring.

All summer long they waited for the harvests with great anxiety， knowing that their lives and the future existence of the colony depended on the coming harvest. Finally the fields produced a yield rich beyond expectations. And therefore it was decided that a day of thanksgiving to the Lord be fixed[2]. Years later， President of the United States proclaimed the fourth Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day every year. The celebration of Thanksgiving Day has been observed on that date until today.

The pattern of the Thanksgiving celebration has never changed through the years. The big family dinner is planned months ahead. On the dinner table， people will find apples， oranges， chestnuts， walnuts and grapes. There will be plum pudding， mince pie， other varieties of food and cranberry juice and squash. The best and most attractive among them are roast turkey and pumpkin pie. They have been the most traditional and favorite food on Thanksgiving Day throughout the years.

Everyone agrees the dinner must be built around roast turkey stuffed with a bread dressing[3] to absorb the tasty juices as it roasts. But as cooking varies with families and with the regions where one lives， it is not easy to get a consensus on[4] the precise kind of stuffing for the royal bird.

Thanksgiving today is， in every sense， a national annual holiday on which Americans of all faiths and backgrounds join in to express their thanks for the year' s bounty and reverently ask for continued[5] blessings.

感恩节是美国国定假日中最地道、最美国式的节日，而且它和早期美国历史最为密切相关。

1620年，一些朝圣者（或称为清教徒）乘坐"五月花"号船去美国寻求宗教自由。他们在海上颠簸折腾了两个月之后，终于在酷寒的十一月里，在现在的马萨诸塞州的普里茅斯登陆。

在第一个冬天，半数以上的移民都死于饥饿和传染病，活下来的人们在第一个春季开始播种。整个夏天他们都热切地盼望着丰收的到来，他们深知自己的生存以及殖民地的存在与否都将取决于即将到来的收成。后来，庄稼获得了意外的丰收，所以大家决定要选一个日子来感谢上帝的恩典。多年以后，美国总统宣布每年十一月的第四个星期四为感恩节。感恩节庆祝活动便定在这一天，直到如今。

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