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Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated in much of North America, generally
observed as an expression of gratitude, usually to God. The most common view
of its origin is that it was to give thanks to God for the bounty of the
autumn harvest.
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In the United States, the holiday is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in
November. In Canada, where the harvest generally ends earlier in
the year, the holiday is celebrated on the second Monday in October, which is
observed as Columbus Day or protested as Indigenous Peoples Day in the United
States.
U.S. tradition associates the holiday with a meal held in 1621 by the
Wampanoag and the Pilgrims who settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Some of
the details of the American Thanksgiving story are myths that developed in
the 1890s and early 1900s as part of the effort to forge a common national
identity in the aftermath of the Civil War and in the melting pot of new
immigrants.
Traditional Celebration
Thanksgiving is traditionally celebrated with a feast shared among friends
and family. In the United States, it is an important family holiday, and
people often travel across the country to be with family members for the
holiday. The Thanksgiving holiday is generally a "four-day" weekend in the
United States, in which Americans are given the relevant Thursday and Friday
off. Thanksgiving is almost entirely celebrated at home, unlike the
Fourth of
July or Christmas, which are associated with a variety of shared public
experiences (fireworks, caroling, etc.)
Since at least the 1930s, the Christmas shopping season technically begins
when Thanksgiving ends. In New York City, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
is held annually every Thanksgiving Day in Midtown Manhattan. The parade
features moving stands with specific themes, scenes from Broadway plays,
large balloons of cartoon characters and TV personalities, and high school
marching bands. It always ends with the image of Santa Claus passing the
reviewing stand. Thanksgiving parades also occur in other cities like
Plymouth, Houston, Philadelphia (which claims the oldest parade), and Detroit
(where it is the only major parade of the year). Due to the earlier date,
Santa Claus parades in Canada do not fall on Thanksgiving; the only major
parade on that day in Canada is the Oktoberfest parade in Kitchener-Waterloo.
While the second-biggest day of shopping of the year in the U.S. is still the
Black Friday after Thanksgiving (the biggest is now the Saturday before
Christmas), most shops start to stock for and promote the December holidays
immediately after Halloween, and sometimes even before.
American football is often a major part of Thanksgiving celebrations in the
U.S. Traditionally, two professional games are played on Thanksgiving Day;
until recently, these were the only games played during the week rather than
on Sunday (other than Monday Night Football). The Detroit Lions have played
every Thanksgiving Day since 1934, with the exception of 1939-1944 (due to
World War II). The Dallas Cowboys have played every Thanksgiving Day since
1966. Additionally, many college and high school football games may be played
on the Friday after Thanksgiving, sometimes between historic rivals.
History of Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is closely related to harvest festivals that had long been a
traditional holiday in much of Europe.
Pilgrims Thanksgiving
Most people recognize the first Thanksgiving as taking place on an
unremembered date, sometime in the autumn of 1621, when the Pilgrims held a
three-day feast to celebrate the bountiful harvest they reaped following
their first winter in North America.
Two American colonists have personal accounts of the 1621 Thanksgiving in
Massachusetts:
William Bradford, in Of Plymouth Plantation:
They began now to gather in the small harvest they had, and to fit up their
house and dwelling against winter, being all well recovered in health and
strength and had all things in good plenty. For as some were thus employed in
affairs abroad, others were exercised in fishing, about cod and bass and
other fish, of which they took good store, of which every family had their
portion. All the summer there was no want; and now began to come in store of
fowl, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they came
first (but afterward decreased by degrees). And besides waterfowl there was
great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides venison, etc.
Besides, they had about a peck of meal a week to a person, or now since
harvest, Indian corn to that proportion. Which made many afterwards write so
largely of their plenty here to their friends in England, which were not
feigned by true reports.
Edward Winslow, in Mourt's Relation:
Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so
we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the
fruits of our labor. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a
little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, amongst
other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst
us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men,
whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed
five deer, which we brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor,
and upon the captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful
as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far
from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty.
The Pilgrims did not hold Thanksgiving again until 1623, when it followed a
drought, prayers for rain and a subsequent rain shower. Irregular
Thanksgivings continued after favorable events and days of fasting after
unfavorable ones. Gradually an annual Thanksgiving after the harvest
developed in the mid-17th century. This did not occur on any set day or
necessarily on the same day in different colonies.
Other Thanksgivings
Other claims to the first Thanksgiving include a thanksgiving held in Newfoundland by the Frobisher
Expedition in 1578. Another event claiming to be the first Thanksgiving
occurred on December 4, 1619 when 38 colonists from Berkeley Parish in
England disembarked in Virginia and gave thanks to God.
Some, including historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., point out that the
first time colonists from Europe gave thanks in what would become the United
States was on December 4, 1619, in Berkeley, Virginia. That was when the
thirty-eight members of The Stanford Company landed there after a three-month
voyage in the Margaret. Having been recruited from Gloucestershire to
establish a colony in the New World, the men were under orders to give thanks
when they arrived, so the first thing they did was to kneel down and do so.
The Pilgrims set apart a day for thanksgiving at Plymouth immediately after
their first harvest, in 1621; the Massachusetts Bay Colony for the first time
in 1630, and frequently thereafter until about 1680, when it became an annual
festival in that colony; and Connecticut as early as 1639 and annually after
1647, except in 1675. The Dutch in New Netherland appointed a day for giving
thanks in 1644 and occasionally thereafter.
During the American Revolutionary War the Continental Congress appointed one
or more thanksgiving days each year, except in 1777, each time recommending
to the executives of the various states the observance of these days in their
states.
George Washington, leader of the revolutionary forces in the American
Revolutionary War, proclaimed a Thanksgiving in December 1777 as a victory
celebration honoring the defeat of the British at Saratoga. The Continental
Congress proclaimed annual December Thanksgivings from 1777 to 1783, except
in 1782.
George Washington again proclaimed Thanksgivings, now as President, in 1789
and 1795. President John Adams declared Thanksgivings in 1798 and 1799.
President Madison, in response to resolutions of Congress, set apart a day
for thanksgiving at the close of the War of 1812. Madison declared the
holiday twice in 1815; however, none of these were celebrated in autumn.
One was annually appointed by the governor of New York from 1817. In some of
the Southern States there was opposition to the observance of such a day on
the ground that it was a relic of Puritanic bigotry, but by 1858
proclamations appointing a day of thanksgiving were issued by the governors
of 25 states and two Territories.
Annual National Thanksgiving
In the middle of the Civil War, prompted by a series of editorials written by
Sarah Josepha Hale, the last of which appeared in the September 1863 issue of
Godey's Lady's Book, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national
Thanksgiving Day, to be celebrated on the final Thursday in November 1863:
The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the
blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which
are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which
they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature,
that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is
habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the
midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has
sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression,
peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the
laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere
except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been
greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful
diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to
the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship;
the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well
of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly
than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste
that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the
country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is
permitted to expect continuance of years, with large increase of freedom.
No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great
things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing
with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.
It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently
and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American
people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United
States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign
lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day
of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the
Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions
justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also,
with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend
to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or
sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged,
and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the
wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the
Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and
Union.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the
United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our
Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of
the United States the eighty-eighth.
Proclamation of President Abraham Lincoln, 3 October 1863.
Since 1863, Thanksgiving has been observed annually in the United States.
In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared that Thanksgiving would be
the next to last Thursday of November rather than the last. With the country
still in the midst of The Great Depression, Roosevelt thought this would give
merchants a longer period to sell goods before Christmas. Increasing profits
and spending during this period, Roosevelt hoped, would aid bringing the
country out of the Depression. At the time, it was considered inappropriate
to advertise goods for Christmas until after Thanksgiving. However,
Roosevelt's declaration was not mandatory; twenty-three states went along
with this recommendation, and 22 did not. Other states, like Texas, could not
decide and took both weeks as government holidays. Roosevelt persisted in
1940 to celebrate his "Franksgiving," as it was termed. The U.S. Congress in
1941 split the difference and established that the Thanksgiving would occur
annually on the fourth Thursday of November, which was sometimes the last
Thursday and sometimes the next to last. On November 26 that year President
Roosevelt signed this bill into US law.
Beginning in 1947, the National Turkey Federation has presented the President
of the United States with one live turkey and two dressed turkeys. The live
turkey is pardoned and lives out the rest of its days on a peaceful farm.
Since 1970, a group of Native Americans and others have held a National Day
of Mourning protest on Thanksgiving at Plymouth Rock in Plymouth,
Massachusetts.
Canadian Thanksgiving
In Canada, Thanksgiving is only a three-day weekend, and the holiday is not
as important as in the US. Because of the shortened break, there is far less
travel during Canada's Thanksgiving and it is far harder for families to come
together. As a result, Christmas is therefore the more family oriented of the
two holidays. Additionally, while the actual Thanksgiving holiday is on a
Monday, Canadians might eat their Thanksgiving meal on any day of that three
day weekend. This often means celebrating a meal with one group of relatives
on one day, and another meal with a different group of relatives on another
day. In addition, the early date means the weather is generally warm enough
in many regions that it is completely ignored and becomes a day of recreation
or going to the cottage as opposed to a family gathering. Some suggestions
have been made to move the date onto another day of the week and another
time, most likely to the same date as the US Thanksgiving (fourth Thursday in
November), although no changes are planned. For Roman Catholic French
Canadians the holiday, called l'Action de Grâce, has slightly more religious
overtones. Today, it is seldomly celebrated by French Canadians and is
considered to be a regular holiday.
Canadians trace the holiday to a feast held by Martin Frobisher in
Newfoundland in 1578. It is also probable that American loyalists who
emigrated to Canada after American independence brought with them many of
their Thanksgiving traditions.
The Thanksgiving celebration was held occasionally in English areas of
British North America in the eighteenth century, especially in Nova Scotia.
The holiday rose to much greater prominence with the arrival of the United
Empire Loyalists fleeing the American Revolution. The holiday became
entrenched in English Canadian society.
The first official Canadian Thanksgiving Day was celebrated on April 5, 1872
in gratitude for the Prince of Wales' recovery from serious illness. The
holiday was not officially recognized again till 1879, when parliament
declared Thanksgiving to be an annual national secular holiday. The date was
moved several times, finally being set on its current date (the second Monday
in October) in 1957. For much of the period before 1957 parliament proclaimed
the date annually.
Thanksgiving Dinner
The centerpiece of contemporary Thanksgiving in the United States and Canada
is a large meal in the late afternoon or evening, starring a large roasted
turkey. Because turkey is the most common main dish of a Thanksgiving dinner,
thanksgiving is sometimes colloquially called Turkey Day. The USDA estimated
that 269 million turkeys were raised in the country in 2003, about one-sixth
of which were destined for a Thanksgiving dinner plate.
Many other foods are served alongside the turkey—so many that, because of the
amount of food, the Thanksgiving meal is generally served midday or early
afternoon to make time for all the eating, and preparation may begin at the
crack of dawn or days before.
Traditional Thanksgiving foods are sometimes specific to the day, and
although some of the foods might be seen at any semi-formal meal in the
United States, the meal often has something of ritual or traditional quality.
Commonly served dishes include cranberry sauce, gravy, mashed potatoes,
candied yams, green beans and stuffing. For dessert, various pies are served,
particularly pumpkin pie, strawberry-rhubarb pie and pecan pie.
There are also regional differences as to the "stuffing" (or "dressing")
traditionally served with the turkey. Southerners generally make theirs from
cornbread, while in other parts of the country white bread is the base, to
which oysters, apples, chestnuts, sausage or the turkey's giblets may be
added. These eating patterns are very similar in Canada.
Foods other than turkey are sometimes served as the main dish for a
Thanksgiving dinner. Goose and duck, foods which were traditional European
centerpieces of Christmas dinners before being displaced by turkeys, are now
ironically sometimes served in place of the Thanksgiving turkey. On the West
Coast of the United States, Dungeness crab is common as an alternate main
dish, as crab season starts in early November. Turducken, a turkey stuffed
with a duck stuffed with a chicken, is becoming more popular, from its base
in Louisiana. Deep fried turkey is rising in popularity as well, requiring
special fryers to hold the large bird. Vegetarians or vegans may try tofurkey,
a tofu concoction imitating a turkey.
Other dishes reflect the region or cultural background of those who have come
together for the meal. For example, Italian-Americans often have lasagna on
the table and Ashkenazi Jews may serve noodle kugel, a sweet pudding. Among
some African-American families, spaghetti and meatballs are sometimes made,
especially if many children are to attend the dinner.
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