Thanksgiving Day is a harvest festival celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is a holiday to express thankfulness, gratitude, and appreciation to God, family and friends for which all have been blessed of material possessions and relationships. Traditionally, it has been a time to give thanks for a bountiful harvest. This holiday has since moved away from its religious roots.
In the United States, Thanksgiving Day falls on the fourth Thursday of November. In Canada it is celebrated on the second Monday in October.
The precise historical origin of the holiday is disputed. Although Americans commonly believe that the first Thanksgiving happened in 1621, at Plymouth Plantation, in Massachusetts, there is strong evidence for earlier celebrations in Canada (1578) and by Spanish explorers in Florida (1565).
Thanksgiving Day is also celebrated in the Netherlands. A different holiday which uses the same name is celebrated at a similar time of year in the island of Grenada.
What do people do?
It is traditional for families and groups of friends to get together for a large meal. This often consists of a turkey, stuffing, different types of potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy and maize and other seasonal vegetables. The meal also often includes pumpkin pie. Many of these foods are native to the Americas and were not available in Europe at the time of the first settlers. This adds to their symbolism of giving thanks for a good harvest in a new country.
Thanksgiving Day parades are held in some cities and towns on or around Thanksgiving Day. Some parades or festivities also mark the opening of the Christmas shopping season. Many football games are played and watching them is a popular activity. Some people have a four-day weekend so it is a popular time for trips out of town and to visit friends and family.
Public life
Most government offices, businesses, schools and other organizations are closed on Thanksgiving Day. Many offices and businesses allow staff to have a four-day weekend so these offices and businesses also closed on the Friday after Thanksgiving Day. Public transit systems do not usually operate on their regular timetables.
Many families and groups of friends get together for Thanksgiving so it is one of the busiest periods for travel. This can cause congestion and overcrowding. Seasonal parades and busy football games can cause disruption to traffic locally. Some states, such as Maine and West Virginia (among others), have an extra day for the Thanksgiving holiday. The following day is known as Thanksgiving Friday in these states.
Background
There are claims that the first Thanksgiving Day was held in the city of El Paso, Texas in 1598. Another early event was held in 1619 in the Virginia Colony. Many people trace the origins of the modern Thanksgiving Day to the harvest celebration that the Pilgrims held in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621. However, their first true thanksgiving was in 1623, when they gave thanks for rain that ended a drought. These early thanksgivings took the form of a special church service, rather than a feast, as is common now.
In the second half of the 1600s, thanksgivings after the harvest became more common and started to become annual events. However, it was celebrated on different days in different communities and in some places there were more than one thanksgiving each year. The celebrations often included prayer and fasting and so were quite different to the modern holiday. George Washington, the first president of the United States, proclaimed the first national Thanksgiving Day in 1789.
Since 1863, Thanksgiving Day has been an annual holiday in the United States. A more recent tradition started in 1947. Since then, the president has been presented with a live turkey, which he 'pardons'. The turkey then spends the rest of its life peacefully on a farm.
Not everyone sees Thanksgiving Day as a cause for celebration. The European settlers had a massive destructive effect on the Native American peoples and their culture. Each year since 1970, a group of Native Americans and their supporters have staged a protest for a National Day of Mourning at Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts on Thanksgiving Day.
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