Thanksgiving is lurking around the corner, reminding people what to be thankful for. A perfect time for friends and families, but not for the turkeys. The history of the turkey and thanksgiving would leave many speechless.
The feasting of turkeys dates all the way back to the 16th century. According to Wonderopolis, a learning website, during the 16th century, a fleet of Spanish ships were sunk on their way to attack England. Queen Elizabeth was pleased to hear the new, so she decided to roast a turkey for her Thanksgiving meal instead of a goose, which she was already planning to have. Letters were found later on that kept note of early American settlers who recorded their hunt on turkeys before their Thanksgiving meal. Turkeys didn’t have it easy, but a lucky few were spared on this deathly holiday. Referenced by the History Channel, official online website, nearly 50 million turkeys are served every Thanksgiving, yet two are spared each year, two that the president will choose to pardon from death, a tradition that grew on America since the early 1900s. Even Benjamin Franklin saw that turkeys had a purpose too.
Also referenced by Wonderopolis, the wild turkey used to be seen as a native bird in North America, and Benjamin Franklin wanted to honor the turkey as a symbol of American. However some saw the bald eagle as more of a treasure to America than the turkey. Ben Franklin still gave some honor to the turkey, which was on the day of Thanksgiving.
Even a famous book publicized the use of a turkey, however it was a turkey dinner. According to Slate, news website, the book the Christmas Carol published in 1843, described the Christmas dinner with the use of a turkey, which actually widely spread around the nation for the use of turkeys on Christmas dinners. Turkey mostly became a popular dish after people realized that their cost was very cheap. Also stated by Slate, “In the late 19th century, cows were seen to be more useful alive than dead. Chickens were valuable for their eggs. Turkeys weren’t very valuable, so they became a popular dish to eat. Turkeys were raised in the early spring to be fattened up to weigh about 10 pounds by Thanksgiving. Turkeys became popular over geese during this time, since they were easier to raise, and to cheap for everyone to afford.”
Turkeys could possibly be useful to us if they were alive, rather than a dead bird on a plate. Maybe this Thanksgiving, we can make their day by letting them be alive and letting them be thankful for that.