In 1621,
the
Thanksgiving Day
is a national holiday celebrated primarily in the United States Canada
the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. It is
celebrated on the fourth Thursday of
November in the United States Canada
around the world observe similar celebrations. Thanksgiving has its
historical roots in religious and
cultural traditions, and has long been
celebrated in a secular manner as well.
History
Prayers of thanks and special thanksgiving
ceremonies are common among almost all religions after harvests and at other
times.[1] The Thanksgiving holiday's history in North America is rooted in
English traditions dating from the Protestant Reformation. It also has aspects
of a harvest festival, even though the harvest in New England occurs well
before the late-November date on which the modern Thanksgiving holiday is
celebrated.[1][2
In the English tradition, days of
thanksgiving and special thanksgiving religious services became important
during the English Reformation in the reign of Henry VIII and in reaction to
the large number of religious holidays on the Catholic calendar. Before 1536
there were 95 Church holidays, plus 52 Sundays, when people were required to
attend church and forego work and sometimes pay for expensive celebrations. The
1536 reforms reduced the number of Church holidays to 27, but some Puritans
wished to completely eliminate all Church holidays, including Christmas and
Easter. The holidays were to be replaced by specially called Days of Fasting or
Days of Thanksgiving, in response to events that the Puritans viewed as acts of
special providence. Unexpected disasters or threats of judgement from on high
called for Days of Fasting. Special blessings, viewed as coming from God,
called for Days of Thanksgiving. For example, Days of Fasting were called on
account of drought in 1611, floods in 1613, and plagues in 1604 and 1622. Days
of Thanksgiving were called following the victory over the Spanish Armada in
1588 and following the deliverance of Queen Anne in 1705. An unusual annual Day
of Thanksgiving began in 1606 following the failure of the Gunpowder Plot in
1605 and developed into Guy Fawkes Day..
In Canada
Main article: Thanksgiving (Canada)
While some researchers
state that "there is no compelling narrative of the origins of the
Canadian Thanksgiving day",[4] the first Canadian Thanksgiving is often traced back to
1578 and the explorer Martin Frobisher. Frobisher, who had been
trying to find a northern passage to the Pacific Ocean , held his
Thanksgiving celebration not for harvest but in thanks for surviving the long
journey from England
Oven-roasted turkey
The origins of
Canadian Thanksgiving are also sometimes traced to the French settlers who came
to New France with
explorer Samuel de Champlain in the early 17th century, who
celebrated their successful harvests. The French settlers in the area typically
had feasts at the end of the harvest season and continued throughout the winter
season, even sharing food with the indigenous peoples of the area.[6]
As settlers arrived in
Canada New England , late autumn
Thanksgiving celebrations became common. New immigrants into the country, such
as the Irish, Scottish and Germans, also added their own traditions to the
harvest celebrations. Most of the U.S. United States Canada
Thanksgiving is now a statutory holiday in most jurisdictions of Canada, with
the exception of the Atlantic provinces
of Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and
Labrador, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.[7]
In the United States
Main article: Thanksgiving
(United States)
Jennie Augusta
Brownscombe, The
First Thanksgiving at Plymouth Plymouth , Massachusetts
In the United States Plymouth England New England until the late 1660s.[14]
Thanksgiving
proclamations were made mostly by church leaders in New England up until 1682, and
then by both state and church leaders until after the American Revolution.
During the revolutionary period, political influences affected the issuance of
Thanksgiving proclamations. Various proclamations were made by royal governors, John Hancock, General George Washington, and the Continental Congress,[15] each giving thanks to God for events favorable to their
causes.[16] As President of the United States America November 26, 1789 , "as a day of public thanksgiving and
prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal
favours of Almighty God".[17]
For many decades
before, from the mid-1800's to the mid 1900's, olives and celery were featured
items at the American Thanksgiving table.[18]
In modern times the
President of the United States
Debate
about first celebrations in the United States
The traditional
representation of where the first Thanksgiving was held in the United States
Local boosters in Virginia Florida Texas
These claims include
an earlier religious service by Spanish explorers in Texas
According to Baker,
"Historically, none of these had any influence over the evolution of the
modern United States New England Calvinist Thanksgiving. Never coupled with a
Sabbath meeting, the Puritan observances were special days set aside during the
week for thanksgiving and praise in response to God's providence."[8]
Fixing the date of the holiday
The reason for the
earlier Thanksgiving celebrations in Canada Canada April
15, 1872 ,[25] when the nation was celebrating the Prince of
Wales' recovery from a serious illness.[24] By the end of the 19th century, Thanksgiving Day was
normally celebrated on November 6. However, when World War I ended,
theArmistice Day holiday was usually held during the
same week. To prevent the two holidays from clashing with one another, in 1957
the Canadian Parliament proclaimed Thanksgiving to be observed
on its present date on the second Monday of October.[6] Since 1971, when the American Uniform Monday
Holiday Act took
effect, the American observance of Columbus Day has
coincided with the Canadian observance of Thanksgiving.[26][27]
Much as in Canada United States Lincoln U.S. Lincoln
On December 26, 1941 , President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a joint resolution of Congress
changing the national Thanksgiving Day from the last Thursday in November to
the fourth Thursday. Two years earlier, Roosevelt had used a presidential proclamation to try to achieve this change,
reasoning that earlier celebration of the holiday would give the country an
economic boost.
Observance
Canada
Main article: Thanksgiving (Canada)
Thanksgiving (French: l'Action de grâce), occurring on the
second Monday in October, is an annual Canadian holiday to give thanksat the close of the harvest season.
Although the original act of Parliament references God and the holiday is celebrated in
churches, the holiday is mostly celebrated in a secular manner.
Thanksgiving is a statutory holiday in all provinces in Canada
Grenada
In the West Indian island of Grenada
Liberia
In the West African
country of Liberia, which began in 1820 with the
colonization of freed black slaves (Americo-Liberians) from the United States, Thanksgiving is celebrated on
the first Thursday of November.[35]
The Netherlands
Many of the Pilgrims
who migrated to the Plymouth Plantation had resided in the city of Leiden from
1609–1620, many of whom had recorded their births, marriages and deaths at the Pieterskerk.
To commemorate this, a non-denominational Thanksgiving Day service is held each
year on the morning of the American Thanksgiving Day in the Pieterskerk, a Gothic church in Leiden, to commemorate the
hospitality the Pilgrims received in Leiden on their way to the New World.[36]
Norfolk Island
In the Australian
external territory of Norfolk Island, Thanksgiving is celebrated on
the last Wednesday of November, similar to the pre-World War II American
observance on the last Thursday of the month. This means the Norfolk Island observance is the day
before or six days after the United States' observance. The holiday was brought to
the island by visiting American whaling ships.[37]
United States
Main article: Thanksgiving
(United States)
Thanksgiving,
currently celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November by federal legislation
in 1941, has been an annual tradition in the United States
Similar holidays
See also: List of harvest
festivals
Germany
A food decoration for
Erntedankfest, a Christian Thanksgiving harvest festival celebrated in Germany
The Harvest
Thanksgiving Festival, Erntedankfest,
is an early October, German Christian festival.
The festival has a significant religious component to it, but also, like its
North American counterpart, includes large harvest dinners (consisting mostly
of autumn crops) and parades.[39] The Bavarian beer festival Oktoberfest generally
takes place within the vicinity of Erntedankfest.
Japan
Main article: Labor Thanksgiving
Day
Labor Thanksgiving Day (勤労感謝の日 Kinrō Kansha no Hi?) is a national holiday in Japan.
It takes place annually on November 23. The law establishing the holiday, which
was adopted during the American
occupation after World
War II, cites it as an occasion for commemorating labor and
production and giving one another thanks. It has roots in an ancient harvest
ceremony (Niiname-sai (新嘗祭?)) celebrating hard
work.
From Wikipedia ..
·
In 1621, the Plymouth
·
THANKSGIVING AT PLYMOUTH
In September 1620, a small ship called the
Mayflower left Plymouth, England, carrying 102 passengers—an assortment of
religious separatists seeking a new home where they could freely practice their
faith and other individuals lured by the promise of prosperity and land
ownership in the New World. After a treacherous and uncomfortable crossing that
lasted 66 days, they dropped anchor near the tip of Cape Cod , far north of
their intended destination at the mouth of the Hudson River . One month later,
the Mayflower crossedMassachusetts Bay, where the Pilgrims, as they are
now commonly known, began the work of establishing a village at Plymouth
Did You Know?
Lobster, seal and swans were on the
Pilgrims' menu.
Throughout that first brutal winter, most
of the colonists remained on board the ship, where they suffered from exposure,
scurvy and outbreaks of contagious disease. Only half of the Mayflower’s
original passengers and crew lived to see their first New England spring. In March,
the remaining settlers moved ashore, where they received an astonishing visit
from an Abenaki Indian who greeted them in English. Several days later, he
returned with another Native American, Squanto, a member of the Pawtuxet tribe
who had been kidnapped by an English sea captain and sold into slavery before
escaping to London
In November 1621, after the Pilgrims’
first corn harvest proved successful, Governor William Bradford organized a celebratory feast and
invited a group of the fledgling colony’s Native American allies, including the
Wampanoag chief Massasoit. Now remembered as American’s “first
Thanksgiving”—although the Pilgrims themselves may not have used the term at
the time—the festival lasted for three days. While no record exists of the
historic banquet’s exact menu, the Pilgrim chronicler Edward Winslow wrote in
his journal that Governor Bradford sent four men on a “fowling” mission in
preparation for the event, and that the Wampanoag guests arrived bearing five
deer. Historians have suggested that many of the dishes were likely prepared
using traditional Native American spices and cooking methods. Because the
Pilgrims had no oven and the Mayflower’s sugar supply had dwindled by the fall
of 1621, the meal did not feature pies, cakes or other desserts, which have
become a hallmark of contemporary celebrations.
Check out the Thanksgiving by the Numbers infographic for more
facts about how the first Thanksgiving compares to modern holiday traditions.
THANKSGIVING BECOMES
AN OFFICIAL HOLIDAY
Pilgrims held their second Thanksgiving
celebration in 1623 to mark the end of a long drought that had threatened the
year’s harvest and prompted Governor Bradford to call for a religious fast.
Days of fasting and thanksgiving on an annual or occasional basis became common
practice in other New England settlements as well. During the American
Revolution, the Continental Congress designated one or more days of
thanksgiving a year, and in 1789 George
Washington issued the
first Thanksgiving proclamation by the national government of the United
States; in it, he called upon Americans to express their gratitude for the
happy conclusion to the country’s war of independence and the successful
ratification of the U.S. Constitution. His successors John Adams and James Madison also designated days of thanks during
their presidencies.
In 1817, New York became the first of several states to
officially adopt an annual Thanksgiving holiday; each celebrated it on a
different day, however, and the American South remained largely unfamiliar with
the tradition. In 1827, the noted magazine editor and prolific writer Sarah
Josepha Hale—author, among countless other things, of the nursery rhyme “Mary
Had a Little Lamb”—launched a campaign to establish Thanksgiving as a national
holiday. For 36 years, she published numerous editorials and sent scores of
letters to governors, senators, presidents and other politicians. Abraham Lincoln finally heeded her request in 1863, at
the height of the Civil War, in a proclamation entreating all Americans to ask
God to “commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans,
mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife” and to “heal the wounds
of the nation.” He scheduled Thanksgiving for the final Thursday in November,
and it was celebrated on that day every year until 1939, when Franklin D.
Roosevelt moved the
holiday up a week in an attempt to spur retail sales during the Great
Depression. Roosevelt ’s plan, known derisively as Franksgiving,
was met with passionate opposition, and in 1941 the president reluctantly
signed a bill making Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday in November.
THANKSGIVING
TRADITIONS
In many American households, the
Thanksgiving celebration has lost much of its original religious significance;
instead, it now centers on cooking and sharing a bountiful meal with family and
friends. Turkey
Parades have also become an integral part
of the holiday in cities and towns across the United States New York City 2 to 3 million spectators along its 2.5-mile
route and drawing an enormous television audience. It typically features
marching bands, performers, elaborate floats conveying various celebrities and
giant balloons shaped like cartoon characters.
Beginning in the mid-20th century and
perhaps even earlier, the president of the United States U.S.
THANKSGIVING
CONTROVERSIES
For some scholars, the jury is still out
on whether the feast at Plymouth United States North America that predate the
Pilgrims’ celebration. In 1565, for instance, the Spanish explorer Pedro
Menéndez de Avilé invited members of the local Timucua tribe to a dinner in St.
Augustine, Florida, after holding a
mass to thank God for his crew’s safe arrival. On December 4, 1619 , when 38 British settlers reached a site
known as Berkeley Hundred on the banks of Virginia James River , they read a
proclamation designating the date as “a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God.”
Some Native Americans and others take issue
with how the Thanksgiving story is presented to the American public, and
especially to schoolchildren. In their view, the traditional narrative paints a
deceptively sunny portrait of relations between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag
people, masking the long and bloody history of conflict between Native
Americans and European settlers that resulted in the deaths of millions. Since
1970, protesters have gathered on the day designated as Thanksgiving at the top
of Cole’s Hill, which overlooks Plymouth Rock, to commemorate a “National Day
of Mourning.” Similar events are held in other parts of the country.
THANKSGIVING’S
ANCIENT ORIGINS
Although the American concept of
Thanksgiving developed in the colonies of New England , its roots can be
traced back to the other side of the Atlantic . Both the
Separatists who came over on the Mayflower and the Puritans who arrived soon
after brought with them a tradition of providential holidays—days of fasting
during difficult or pivotal moments and days of feasting and celebration to
thank God in times of plenty.
As an annual celebration of the harvest
and its bounty, moreover, Thanksgiving falls under a category of festivals that
spans cultures, continents and millennia. In ancient times, the Egyptians,
Greeks and Romans feasted and paid tribute to their gods after the fall
harvest. Thanksgiving also bears a resemblance to the ancient Jewish harvest
festival of Sukkot. Finally, historians have noted that Native Americans had a
rich tradition of commemorating the fall harvest with feasting and merrymaking
long before Europeans set foot on their shores.
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