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Thanksgiving Day
A Thanksgiving feast in 1942
Observed by	Canada  Liberia  Norfolk Island  United States
Type	National, cultural
Date	2nd Monday in October (Canada) Last Wednesday in November (Norfolk Island) 4th Thursday in November (USA)
2024 date	October 14, 2024 (Canada); November 7, 2024 (Liberia); November 27, 2024 (Norfolk Island); November 28, 2024 (USA)
2025 date	October 13, 2025 (Canada); November 6, 2025 (Liberia); November 26, 2025 (Norfolk Island); November 27, 2025 (USA)

Thanksgiving Day is a harvest festival celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Traditionally, it has been a time to give thanks for a bountiful harvest. While there was an underlying religious element in the original celebration, Thanksgiving today is primarily identified as a secular holiday.

Currently, in Canada, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October and in the United States, it is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. Thanksgiving in Canada falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the United States.

History

Thanksgiving in North America had originated from a mix of European and Native traditions. Typically in Europe, festivals were held before and after the harvest cycles to give thanks to God for a good harvest, to rejoice together after much hard work with the rest of the community. At the time, Native Americans had also celebrated the end of a harvest season. When Europeans first arrived to the Americas, they brought with them their own harvest festival traditions from Europe, celebrating their safe voyage, peace and good harvest. Though the origins of the holiday in both Canada and the United States are similar, Americans do not typically celebrate the contributions made in Newfoundland, while Canadians do not celebrate the contributions made in the Plymouth, Massachusetts.

In Canada

The origins of the first Thanksgiving in Canada goes back to an explorer, Martin Frobisher, who had been trying to find a northern passage to the Pacific Ocean. Frobisher's Thanksgiving celebration was not for harvest, but for homecoming. He had safely returned from an unsuccessful search for the Northwest Passage, avoiding the later fate of Henry Hudson and Sir John Franklin. In the year 1578, Frobisher held a formal ceremony in Newfoundland to give thanks for surviving the long journey. Years later, the tradition of a feast would continue as more settlers began to arrive to the Canadian colonies.

The origins of Canadian Thanksgiving can also be traced to the French settlers who came to New France with explorer Samuel de Champlain in the early 17th century, who also took to celebrating 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 their food with the indigenous peoples of the area. Champlain had also proposed for the creation of the Order of Good Cheer in 1606.

As many more settlers arrived in Canada, more celebrations of good harvest became common. New immigrants into the country, such as the Irish, Scottish and Germans, would also add their own traditions to the harvest celebrations. Most of the U.S. aspects of Thanksgiving (such as the turkey) were incorporated when United Empire Loyalists began to flee from the United States during the American Revolution and settled in Canada.

In the United States

In the United States, the modern Thanksgiving holiday tradition traces its origins to a 1621 celebration at Plymouth in present-day Massachusetts. There is also evidence for an earlier harvest celebration on the continent by Spanish explorers in Florida during 1565, as well as thanksgiving feasts in the Virginia Colony. The initial thanksgiving observance at Virginia in 1619 was prompted by the colonists' leaders to give thanks to God on the anniversary of the settlement. The 1621 Plymouth feast and thanksgiving to God was prompted by a good harvest. In later years, the tradition was continued by civil leaders such as Governor Bradford who planned a thanksgiving celebration in 1623. a fast, While initially, the Plymouth colony did not have enough food to feed half of the 102 colonists, the Wampanoag Native Americans helped the Pilgrims by providing seeds and teaching them to fish. The practice of holding an annual harvest festival like this however, did not become a regular affair in New England until the late 1660s.

According to historian Jeremy Bangs, director of the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum, the Pilgrims may have been influenced by watching the annual services of Thanksgiving for the relief of the siege of Leiden in 1574, while they were staying in Leiden.

Contending origins

The claim of where the first Thanksgiving was held in the United States, and even the Americas has often been a subject of debate. Author and teacher Robyn Gioia and Michael Gannon, of the University of Florida, have argued that the earliest attested "Thanksgiving" celebration in what is now the United States was celebrated by the Spanish on September 8, 1565 in what is now Saint Augustine, Florida.

Similarly, many historians point out that the first thanksgiving celebration in the United States was held in Virginia, and not in Plymouth. Thanksgiving services were routine in what was to become the state of Virginia as early as 1607. A day of Thanksgiving was codified in the founding charter of Berkeley Hundred in Charles City County, Virginia in 1619.

Fixing the date of the holiday

The reason for the earlier Thanksgiving celebrations in Canada has often been attributed to the earlier onset of winter in the north, thus ending the harvest season earlier. Thanksgiving in Canada did not have a fixed date until the late 19th century. Prior to Canadian confederation, many of the individual colonial governors of the Canadian provinces had declared their own days of Thanksgiving. The first official Canadian Thanksgiving occurred on April 15, 1872 when the nation was celebrating the Prince of Wales' recovery from a serious illness. By the end 19th Century, Thanksgiving Day was normally celebrated on November 6. However, when World War I ended, the Armistice Day holiday were 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.

Thanksgiving in the United States was observed on various dates throughout history. The first Thanksgiving which was celebrated on a fixed day was in 1863, in an effort by President Abraham Lincoln to foster a sense of American unity between the Northern and Southern states. By the middle of the 20th century, the final Thursday in November had become the customary day of Thanksgiving in most U.S. states. It was not until December 26, 1941, however, that President Franklin D. Roosevelt, after pushing two years earlier to move the date earlier to give the country an economic boost, signed a bill into law with Congress, making Thanksgiving a national holiday and settling it to the fourth (but not final) Thursday in November.

Observance around the world

Canada

Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day (Canadian French: Jour de l'Action de grâce), occurring on the second Monday in October, is an annual Canadian holiday to give thanks at 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, except for Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. While businesses may remain open in these provinces, the holiday is nonetheless, recognized and celebrated regardless of its status.

Liberia

In the West African country of Liberia, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the first Thursday of November.

The Netherlands

Many of the Pilgrims who would end up at the Plymouth Plantation had resided in the city of Leiden from 1609–1620, many of whom had recorded their birth, 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.

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.

United States

Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Day, currently celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, has been an annual tradition in the United States since 1863. Historically, Thanksgiving began as a tradition of celebrating the harvest of the year.

References

1. ^ "Thanksgiving Day". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2009-11-03. Cite error: The named reference "Encyclopædia Britannica" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
2. ^ Morill, Ann "Thanksgiving and Other Harvest Festivals" Infobase Publishing, ISBN 1-6041-3096-2 p.28
3. Morill, Ann "Thanksgiving and Other Harvest Festivals" Infobase Publishing, ISBN 1-6041-3096-2 p.28
4. Morill, Ann "Thanksgiving and Other Harvest Festivals" Infobase Publishing, ISBN 1-6041-3096-2 p.29-30
5. "Canada's first Thanksgiving: Frobisher set stage for our celebrations in different spirit than U.S." canada.com.
6. Morill, Ann "Thanksgiving and Other Harvest Festivals" Infobase Publishing, ISBN 1-6041-3096-2 p.31
7. ^ Solski, Ruth "Canada's Traditions and Celebrations" McGill-Queen's Press, ISBN 1-5503-5694-1 p.12
8. "Port-Royal National Historic Site of Canada". National Historic Sites. Parks Canada. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
9. "The First Thanksgiving Proclamation — June 20, 1676". The Covenant News. Retrieved 2008-11-27.
10. Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647, pp. 120-121.
11. Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation, pp. 135-142.
12. The fast and thanksgiving days of New England by William DeLoss Love, Houghton, Mifflin and Co., Cambridge, 1895
13. Kaufman, Jason Andrew "The origins of Canadian and American political differences" Harvard University Press, 2009, ISBN 0-6740-3136-9 p.28
14. Jeremy Bangs. "Influences". The Pilgrims' Leiden. Retrieved 2010-09-11.
15. USA Today article reporting research into the purportedly first Thanksgiving in St. Augustine, FL
16. See also NYTimes article of Nov 25, 2008
17. ^ Morill, Ann "Thanksgiving and Other Harvest Festivals" Infobase Publishing, ISBN 1-6041-3096-2 p.33
18. "The First Thanksgiving Proclamation — June 20, 1676". The Covenant News. Retrieved 2008-11-27.
19. ^ Kaufman, Jason Andrew "The origins of Canadian and American political differences" Harvard University Press, 2009, ISBN 0-6740-3136-9 p.29
20. See 55 Stat. 862 (1941).
21. "Paid public holidays". WorkRights.ca.
22. "Thanksgiving - is it a Statutory Holiday?". Government of Nova Scotia. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
23. "Statutes, Chapter E-6.2" (PDF). Government of Prince Edward Island. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
24. "RSNL1990 Chapter L-2 - Labour Standards Act". Assembly of Newfoundland. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
25. "Statutory Holidays" (PDF). Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, Canada.
26. "Vice President Boakai Joins Catholic Community in Bomi to Celebrate Thanksgiving Day". The Executive Mansion. Republic of Liberia. 2010-11-05. Retrieved 2010-11-28.
27. Consulate General of the United States, Amsterdam. "Thanksgiving Day Events in the Netherlands, 2007". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 2010-10-02.
28. "Dutch town". The World (radio program). Retrieved 2008-11-28. The Pilgrims arrived in Leiden in 1609, after fleeing religious persecution in England. Leiden welcomed them because it needed immigrants to help rebuild its textile industry, which had been devastated by a long revolt against Spain. Here, the Pilgrims were allowed to worship as they wanted, and they even published their arguments calling for the separation of church and state. Jeremy Bangs directs the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum. He says the Pilgrims quickly adopted several Dutch customs, like civil marriage and Thanksgiving. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
29. Australian Government Attorney-General's Department website

Further reading

• Dow (Abenaki), Judy (2006-06-12). "Deconstructing the Myths of "The First Thanksgiving"". Oyate.org. Retrieved 2010-11-29. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

External links

• Template:Dmoz

• Agriculture in society
• Autumn festivals
• Autumn holidays
• Christian holidays
• Meals
• Thanksgiving