感恩節(jié)的故事
1789年，盡管出現(xiàn)反對(duì)的呼聲，華盛頓總統(tǒng)還是宣布感恩節(jié)為全國(guó)性節(jié)日。在殖民地中也存在意見的分歧，不少人認(rèn)為，僅僅一小撮朝圣者所經(jīng)歷的那些艱難困苦并不值得用一個(gè)全國(guó)節(jié)日來(lái)紀(jì)念。之后，杰弗遜總統(tǒng)還對(duì)這件事嗤之以鼻。
it was sarah josepha hale, a magazine editor, whose efforts eventually led to what we recognize as thanksgiving. hale wrote many editorials championing her cause in her boston ladies' magazine, and later, in godey's lady's book. finally, after a 40-year campaign of writing editorials and letters to governors and presidents, hale's obsession became a reality when, in 1863, president lincoln proclaimed the last thursday in november as a national day of thanksgiving.
若沒有薩拉·j·黑爾――一位雜志編輯的努力，最終就不會(huì)有我們現(xiàn)在所謂的感恩節(jié)。在她主編的"波士頓婦女雜志"及稍后的"godey's 女士手冊(cè)"中，她撰寫了大量的社論，支持將感恩節(jié)定為全國(guó)性節(jié)日。40年中，她堅(jiān)持不懈地發(fā)表評(píng)論，不斷致信州長(zhǎng)乃至總統(tǒng)，最后，理想終于變?yōu)楝F(xiàn)實(shí)：1863年，林肯總統(tǒng)發(fā)表聲明，將11月的最后一個(gè)星期四定為感恩節(jié)――一個(gè)全國(guó)性的節(jié)日。
thanksgiving was proclaimed by every president after lincoln. the date was changed a couple of times, most recently by franklin roosevelt, who set it up one week to the next-to-last thursday in order to create a longer christmas shopping season. public uproar against this decision caused the president to move thanksgiving back to its original date two years later. and in 1941, thanksgiving was finally sanctioned by congress as a legal holiday, as the fourth thursday in november.
從此歷屆總統(tǒng)都按此行事。但具體時(shí)間也發(fā)生過幾次變化。最近的一次是富蘭克林·羅斯福總統(tǒng)宣布的。為開創(chuàng)一個(gè)更長(zhǎng)的圣誕購(gòu)物季節(jié)，羅斯�？偨y(tǒng)宣布將感恩節(jié)日期改在11月的倒數(shù)第二個(gè)星期四，即提前了一個(gè)星期。但公眾反對(duì)呼聲太高，兩年后，總統(tǒng)不得不將感恩節(jié)日期改回到原來(lái)的時(shí)間。1941年，美國(guó)國(guó)會(huì)最終通過決議，將感恩節(jié)定為美國(guó)法定假日，的時(shí)間是每年11月的最后一個(gè)星期四。