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| Happy Halloween! The ancient origins of Halloween come from the ancient festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). This festival was celebrated on November 1st by the Celts who lived 2000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France. This day marked the beginning of winter, a time associated with death, cold, and other bad stuff. The Celts also believed that before the New Year, on October 31st, the boundary between the living and the dead became blurred. So on this day, ghosts and ghouls would walk around on earth. They celebrated this holiday by building huge bonfires, to burn sacrifices such as crops and animals. The Celts would also wear costumes made from animal skins. In A. D. 43, the Romans conquered the Celts. Two festivals from Rome were combined with the Celtic holiday. The two festivals were Feralia, a day near the end of October when the Romans commemorated the dead, and a holiday to honor Ponoma, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. Today, the holiday to honor the goddess of fruit and trees explains why we have bobbing for apples and caramel apples on Halloween. During the 800s, Christianity had spread into the Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1st All Saints? Day, a time to honor saints. The pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival into a church-sanctioned holiday. In the 1000s, the church made November 2nd All Souls? Day, a day to honor the dead. Later on, All Saints? Eve, All Saints?, and All Souls? were called Hallowmas. The American tradition of ?trick-or-treating dates back to All Souls? Day, where the poor citizens would beg for food from rich families? in return for praying to the rich families? dead. The tradition of putting on a costume for Halloween came about because people believed if they wore costumes, the ghosts that wandered the streets at night would not hurt them because the ghosts thought that the people in costumes were just other ghosts. When Europeans came to America, they brought their Halloween traditions with them. The rush of immigrants from Ireland during 1846 spread the idea of Halloween even further. During the 1900?s the communities decided to make Halloween more of a community get together then a holiday about ghosts and monsters. This caused the religious aspects of Halloween to disappear. In the 1950?s Halloween became a holiday directed mainly to the young. Also during this time people started trick-or-treating again. Today, people spend and estimated $6.9 billion annually on Halloween, which makes it the second largest commercial holiday. Immigrant Contributions to America Immigrants from around the world have contributed great achievements to the United States of America. America has been a country that, throughout history, has constantly attracted immigrants from around the world. The greatest contribution these immigrants gave to America is the diversity of culture, learning, background, and ways of life. It is this great variety of peoples that has attracted so many immigrants and created our flourishing society. Over the course of American history, there have been many reasons that people from other parts of the world have seen the values of immigrating to the United States. When the United States was just in its infancy, people came to this great land to be able to practice their beliefs free from religious prosecution. As the government of the United States developed, people started to come to the United States to receive the rights that are stated in the Bill of Rights. After the Civil War, people came to earn higher wages during the reconstruction era. During the World Wars, people came to the United States to escape the battlefields that have so ravaged many countries. Lastly, immigration comes today because of the prosperity of our nation. All of these immigrants came for one reason, to search for their version of the American dream. Even though many of these immigrants came with only the clothes on their backs, they contributed to America their culture. America has become a melting pot of the cultures of the world. This is the only country in the world that you can walk out on the street and meet people who have ancestors from Brazil, Germany, Saudi Arabia, and Korea. This is the only place where you can see the cultures of the world, and learn about the world. This is the only place where you can work with the best people around the world. And this is the only place where a minority can feel just as good as a majority. The great variety of culture has been the greatest contribution by immigrants. The reason that America leads the world in all fields of science, politics, medicine, arts, and language, is because of the great variety of people, and therefore a great variety of skill and talent. As the best people of the world continue to be attracted to the United States by the best education systems and top-class industries, we will see the great nation of America continue to be the great role-model it is today. As the 21st century continues, we can see the peoples of the world unite, starting here in America. America will set an example that the world will follow, an example of how people of the world can live together in peace and achieve great things. Enemies around the world will realize that we are all genetically 99.9% alike, and will make amends and compromises. An era of world peace will evolve, and scientific, cultural, and industrial achievements will crown the world. As this golden age comes, we, the children, will lead human kind into a new and brilliant age. |
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