Thanksgiving : Thanksgiving (or Thanksgiving Day) is a holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November which is the equivalent of Thanksgiving in Canada which takes place in October.
Historically, Thanksgiving was a feast day in European peasant societies during which we thanked God with prayers and rejoicing for the happiness that we may have received during the year. This celebration is now secular in North America, with administrations and most businesses closed on this day.
For some Native American peoples, Thanksgiving is a commemoration of the sharing of food between the First Native Nations and the first American settlers of European immigration.
Origins of Thanksgiving: In 1620, a hundred English dissidents, named Pilgrim Fathers, disembark from the Mayflower in Plymouth Bay in Massachusetts. They founded the colony of Plymouth and the eponymous town there. But the beginnings of colonization were difficult and half of the arrivals died of scurvy.
The survivors owed their salvation only to the intervention of a native named Squanto who, with the help of his tribe, the Wampanoags, offered them food, then taught them to fish, hunt and grow corn.
To celebrate the first harvest, in the fall of 1621, Governor William Bradford decreed three days of thanksgiving. The settlers then invited the leader of the Wampanoags, Massasoit, and 91 of his men to come and share their meal as a thank you for their help. During this feast, wild turkeys and pigeons were offered4.
The Pilgrim Fathers held an even larger celebration of thanksgiving in 1623, after a shift from communal agriculture to privatized agriculture and after a larger harvest thanks to unexpected rain.
On June 29, 1671, Charlestown held the first Thanksgiving declared by public administration.
During the XNUMXth century, the colonies generally observed Thanksgiving days each year. It was not a day of abundant food and drink as is the custom today, but rather a day of prayer and fasting.
During the American Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress named one or more Thanksgiving days each year, each time recommending that the leaders of the various states observe these days in their states. The first national Thanksgiving proclamation was given by the Continental Congress in 1777.
As President, on October 3, 1789, George Washington made the following proclamation and created the first Thanksgiving Day decreed by the National Government of the United States of America:
“A proclamation from the President of the United States of America.
Considering that it is the duty of all Nations to recognize the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his blessings, and to humbly implore his protection and favor, and while both Houses of Congress have requested me through their Joint Committee to recommend to the People of the United States that a public day of thanksgiving and prayer be observed in recognition of the many signs of favor from Almighty God, especially by giving the People the means to establish peacefully a form of government for their safety and happiness.
Now therefore, I recommend and assign that the first Thursday after the 26th day of November be consecrated by the People of these States in the service of the great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all that there has been, who 'there is and will be good. We can then all unite by giving him our sincere and humble thanks, for his care and his protection, appreciated by the People of this Country, before this one does not become a Nation of pity; for the favorable interpositions of his Providence during our trials during the course and the end of the recent war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and abundance, which we have since enjoyed; for the pacifism and reason given to us to allow us to establish constitutions of government for our safety and our happiness, in particular the recently instituted National Law,; for civil liberty and religious liberty alone forming a true blessing; for the means we have of acquiring and spreading useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he has happily conferred on us.
We can then unite by most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Governor of Nations and asking him to forgive our national transgressions and other transgressions; to enable all of us, in public or private positions, to fulfill our many respective functions, correctly and on time; to enable our national government to bless all people, by being constantly a government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, quietly and faithfully carried out and obeyed; to protect, guide and bless all Sovereigns and Nations (especially those who have shown kindness to us), to ensure their peace and harmony, and to ensure good government; to promote the true knowledge and practice of religion and virtue, as well as more science among them and us, and generally grant all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as only he knows to be the best.
“Given under my hand in New York City on the third day of October in the year 1789 of our Lord. 5 "
George Washington proclaimed Thanksgiving again in 1795. President John Adams proclaimed Thanksgivings in 1798 and 1799. James Madison renewed the tradition in 1814, in response to congressional resolutions following the War of 1812. In 1816, Governor Plamer of New Hampshire designated Thursday, November 14 as a public holiday, and Governor Brooks of Massachusetts named Thursday, November 28, "Thanksgiving Day to be observed throughout this state." A Thanksgiving Day was appointed annually by the Governor of New York State beginning in 1817. In some of the southern states there was opposition to the keeping of such a day as it was a relic of Puritan bigotry, but in 1858 proclamations naming a Thanksgiving day were issued by the governors of 25 states and 2 territories.
In the midst of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln, prompted by a series of editorials written by Sarah Josepha Hale6 proclaimed a National Thanksgiving Day, which was celebrated on the last Thursday in November 1863. Since 1863, Thanksgiving has been observed annually in the USA.
However, over time, the date of the celebration changed. The most recent change occurred in 1939, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was President of the United States: Roosevelt proposed the national day of Thanksgiving by proclamation on the fourth Thursday in November in part because the nation was then in the midst of a terrible economic depression (he wanted to give more time to purchases of Holidays).
Native American events: Since the days of the Evangelical Pilgrim Fathers, Thanksgiving has been, for Americans, a way of thanking God for the providential quality of the New World and for the good understanding with the native populations.
However, for some Amerindian groups, this day represents the starting point of the destruction of their continent and the Indian wars. In 1676, the governor of Charlestown even used this day to celebrate a victory over the Amerindians. Since the 1970s, demonstrations have been organized in memory of the Amerindians (not every year).
The Thanksgiving Meal: The Thanksgiving Meal is traditionally made up of a turkey, an animal just discovered by the first Europeans in the New World.
The turkey is presented whole to the guests and it is the chef of the house who cuts it. It is decorated and accompanied by various ingredients, vegetables and seasonal fruits: cranberries ou lingonberries, apples ou pears in syrup, champignons,…
Thanksgiving is celebrated with the family around big dinners and happy reunions.
On the eve of Thanksgiving, associations distribute meals to homeless people in large cities.