You're watching FreeSchool! If you live in the United States, you have probably already heard the story of the first Thanksgiving—how the Pilgrims came over on the Mayflower and held a feast of Thanksgiving after their first good harvest in the New World.

你正在观看的是《少儿基础课堂》！如果你生活在美国 ，你可能已经听过第一个感恩节的故事了，也就是清教徒乘坐五月花号是怎样到达的，以及感恩节宴会是如何在首个丰收日后的新大陆举办的。

But how did a Massachusetts harvest festival in 1621 become a modern national holiday? In the seventeenth century days of thanksgiving were religious holidays, days of fasting and prayer, giving thanks to God for things like rain ending a drought or success in battle, as well as for good harvests.

但1621年麻州的丰收节是如何成为一个现代的、全国性的节日的呢？在17世纪，感恩节是宗教节日，是斋戒和祈祷的节日，是感谢上帝让雨水结束干旱，在战争中胜利，让人们取得良好的收成。

In 1777, Congress proclaimed a day of thanksgiving in all 13 colonies to commemorate the victory of American forces over the British at the Battle of Saratoga. Another day of thanksgiving was celebrated in November of 1782 after the British House of Commons voted to end the Revolutionary War, and George Washington later proclaimed yet another one in the first year of his presidency.

在 1777 年，为了纪念美军在萨拉多加大捷中战胜了英国，国会向十三个殖民地宣布了感恩节的时间。1782 年 11 月，英国下议院投票结束革命战争之后，大家庆祝了另一个感恩节，乔治华盛顿上任第一年就宣告了另一个日期。

John Adams and James Madison also set days of thanksgiving, but no president after Madison would do the same for fifty years. Throughout the 1800s, several states adopted a yearly Thanksgiving holiday.

约翰亚当斯和詹姆斯麦迪逊也定下了感恩节的日期，但是在麦迪逊卸任后的五十年没有总统再这样做过。在整个十九世纪，一些州已经接受了一年一度的感恩节。

These days of thanksgiving were celebrated on a different day in every state, and remained mostly a Northern tradition. In 1846 Sarah Josepha Hale, magazine editor and the author of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" began a campaign to make Thanksgiving a national holiday.

每个州庆祝感恩节的日子都不一样，但保留了大部分北方的传统。1846 年，莎拉约瑟法海尔，一位杂志编辑，也就是《玛丽有只小羊羔》的作者发起了一项使感恩节成为全国性节日的运动。

Over the course of seventeen years she published articles and wrote letters to governors, senators, and five consecutive presidents, urging the creation of a national day of thanksgiving each year. In 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln declared the last Thursday in November to be a day of Thanksgiving, hoping that it would help heal the wounds of their divided nation.

在接下来的 17 年里，她发表文章，写信给州长、参议员和五届总统，促使感恩节成为全国范围内每年庆祝的节日。在 1863年的内战期间，亚伯拉罕林肯总统宣称 11 月的最后一个星期四为感恩节，希望这样能帮助人们治愈国家分裂的伤口。

Thanksgiving became only the third National Holiday to be observed in the United States, alongside Washington's Birthday and Independence Day. Thanksgiving remained on the last Thursday in November until the 1930s.

感恩节成为仅有的三个在美国庆祝的全国性节日，另外两个与它并列的是华盛顿诞辰日和独立日。20 世纪 30 年代以前，感恩节都是十一月的最后一个星期四。

In 1933 there were five Thursdays in November, and some business owners asked Franklin D. Roosevelt, the president at the time, to move Thanksgiving up a week so people would have more time to shop for Christmas. He refused.

1933 年的十一月有五个星期四，一些企业主便请求在位的总统罗斯福把感恩节往前移一周，这样人们才有更多的时间为圣诞节购物。他拒绝了。

The next time there were five Thursdays in November was 1939, and Roosevelt was still president. This time when business owners asked him to move the holiday, he agreed, and issued a presidential proclamation saying that Thanksgiving should be the fourth Thursday of November.

下个有五个周四的十一月是 1939年，罗斯福还是总统。这次，企业主请求他去修改日期时，他同意了，并发布了总统公告，声称感恩节应该在 11 月的第四个星期四举行。

Some people really disliked the change since they thought it was just intended to help people make more money. Some states' governors even refused to change the date of their state's Thanksgiving celebrations until 1941, when Congress passed a law saying that Thanksgiving should be on the fourth Thursday, bringing everyone's celebrations back to the same day.

有些人很反对这个改变，因为他们觉得这样只会有意帮助人们赚更多的钱。一些州的政府官员甚至拒绝修改他们州感恩节的日子，直到 1941年，国会通过了一条感恩节应该在第四个星期四举行的规定，让大家都能在同一天庆祝。

Today Thanksgiving is a day of rest and feasting. It is popularly celebrated with football and parades, but most importantly, it is about family—and remembering what we have to be thankful for.

现在的感恩节是一个休息和宴请的日子。通常它是以橄榄球和游行的形式来庆祝，但是最重要的是家人——并且要记住我们要去感谢什么。

I hope you enjoyed learning about the history of Thanksgiving today! Goodbye till next time.

我希望你能喜欢今天所学的感恩节历史。下次再见啦。

出处：头条号 @英语东