What do you think of when you hear the word "Thanksgiving"? Maybe it is turkey and dressing, maybe it is football or maybe it is family traditions. Whatever comes to mind is probably, in some part, the result of the past 100 years.
Thanksgiving, as we all know, began with the passengers of the Mayflower and their celebration meal with the Native Americans. But in 1939, at the request of retailers suffering from the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Thanksgiving Proclamation declaring the second to last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day.
Throughout the decades the reasons to be thankful have changed as have the items to be thankful for. As these items have changed traditions have changed, grown and become a part of American culture.
In this webquest you will research your decade and determine the reasons people were thankful, the items they were thankful for and the traditions associated with the celebration.