Please could someone explain Thanksgiving to me?

Question

I am really embarrassed to ask this question . I know I'm British but at the age of 62 I really should know about this . I know you have Thanksgiving but I don't really know why. Help!

Answer 1

Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a traditional North American holiday to give thanks, traditionally to God, for the things that one has at the conclusion of the harvest season. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States and on the second Monday of October in Canada.

The traditional celbration in the U.S.



Thanksgiving meals are traditionally family events where certain kinds of food are served. As is evidenced by the tremendous level of travel, significant effort is made by family members to gather for the Thanksgiving celebration. Family participation is notably inclusive ranging from the very youngest to the most senior. First and foremost, turkey is the featured item in most Thanksgiving feasts (so much so that Thanksgiving is sometimes facetiously referred to as "Turkey Day"). Stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, corn, turnips, rolls, pecan pie, and pumpkin pie are commonly associated with Thanksgiving dinner, although it was quite probable that many of these culinary items did not feature in the first Thanksgiving in 1621.[2]. Often guests bring food items or help with cooking in the kitchen as part of a communal meal.

Traditional celebration in Canada:
In Canada, Thanksgiving is a three day weekend (although some provinces observe a four day weekend, Friday–Monday[citation needed]). Traditional Thanksgiving meals prominently feature turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes, though Canada's multicultural heritage has seen some families infuse this traditional meal with elements of their traditional ethnic foods. Many Canadians also consume pumpkin pie after their meal.

As a liturgical festival, the Canadian Thanksgiving corresponds to the European harvest festival, during which churches are adorned with cornucopias, pumpkins, corn, wheat sheaves and other harvest bounty. English and other European harvest hymns are customarily sung on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend, along with scriptural lections derived from biblical stories relating to the Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot.

Answer 2

I've read that the day of Thanksgiving, in 1621 celebrated by the colonists at Plymouth Plantation (Pilgrims) "resembled a Nottinghamshire Harvest Supper—minus the turkey!” Our modern Thanksgiving evolved over a few hundred years. The roots go back to Native American harvest festivals, European harvest celebrations, and European religious observances-especially Reformation and Separatist sects of Christianity-North America was a long way from both the Church of England and The Vatican.

The first recorded Day of Thanksgiving in the American Colonies occurred on December 4, 1619. The British Settlers at Berkeley Plantation in Virginia Colony were directed by the London Company to declare a day of Thanksgiving for their safe arrival from England.

The Pilgrims at Plymouth Colony, October 1621, celebrated a harvest festival, and this is where we in the US get our traditions about Pilgrims and Indians. It's unlikely that the colonists referred to this as a day of Thanksgiving. The Pilgrims were Separatists, who recognized three kinds of holidays as sanctioned by the Bible: the Sabbath, days of thanksgiving, and fast days. Days of thanksgiving and fast days were proclaimed by the governor only in response to a specific situation. A day of thanksgiving could be called to celebrate a particularly good harvest or providential rainfall. This 1621 harvest feast had many secular elements and would not have been considered a religious day.

The first nationwide Thanksgiving in the US was proclaimed by President George Washington, in October 1789. Thanksgiving occurred periodically and not annually across the whole nation.

Our modern Thanksgiving celebrations started during the US Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln established an annual day of Thanksgiving, in 1863, and this is what we in the US have been celebrating every since.

My apologies to my Canadian brothers and sisters, I do not know when your Thanksgiving was declared a nationwide holiday.

Answer 3

Due to my hubby's hearing some things on the radio about
the truth of the 'First Thanksgiving' I googled and took a look.
All of which we were taught in grade school has been not
according to true history. Search for yourself, under, "The
Truth of the First Thanksgiving", and then click on the second
link I believe. And you will find there were colonies in Virgina
and Florida long before the pilgrims came. It pays to keep
educating ourselves to learn more and discover more. And
often the perpetuating wrong "truths" that are what we'll find in
the school books.

Answer 4

Well, those who left your country and came to this one had had a very tough life. The first year here nearly half of them died. They didn't have enough food, clothing, and suffered from medical illnesses too.
They had a good harvest the next year, and took the time to honor and thank God for His mercies and blessings. The history has different accounts, but I believe that they had the feast because the Native Indians brought them food also, to add to their harvest, so they all wouldn't die the oncoming winter. In appreciation as to them (the natives) a feast was had by the two groups.

Answer 5

jj Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is an annual one-day holiday to give thanks, traditionally to God, for the things one has at the close of the harvest season. In the United States, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November, and in Canada it is celebrated on the second Monday in October. In the United Kingdom, Thanksgiving is another name for the Harvest festival, held in churches across the country on a relevant Sunday to mark the end of the local harvest, though it is not thought of as a major event (compared to Christmas or Easter) as it is in North America, where this tradition taken by early settlers became much more important. Other European countries, such as Germany, also have harvest-thanks (Erntedank) celebrations which are perceived to be rather minor and mostly rural holidays.

Answer 6

It is a day when the Pigrims and Indians got together, but my family always used it for an excuse to get together and give thanks for everything that had happened throughout the year. Plus, it was always the time when we drew names for Christmas.Some of the others gave great links.

Answer 7

Since it is a U.S. event, there's no reason for a Briton to have knowledge of it.

Thanksgiving was originally celebrated in Virginia as thankfulness for safe arrival after an iffy sea voyage. In Massachusetts, it was celebrated as thankfulness for the new home, the new harvest and the new friends.

Nowadays, I think it is thankfulness for all the goodness we have received in life, deserved or not.

For the cynical, it's a day of sports and beer and shopping lists for the next day's sales events.

Answer 8

the first Thanksgiving was a going away party for the pilgrims who survived the first year in the new world, given by the Indians who were surprised to find the pilgrims weren't leaving.

Answer 9

I have to agree with dee d. But, I'm thankful we can all celebrate in harmony and try and forget the past!!

Answer 10

Go to this link and it will explain all.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving