Thanksgiving Explained

In 1613, a group we now know as the Pilgrims left England for Holland, where they could freely practice religion. 7 years later, they left on two ships to Jamestown. However, one of the ships broke, and so the other, the Mayflower, is well known now. The Mayflower was supposed to land in Jamestown, Virginia, where there was already a settlement. But, winds blew the ship north, and the ship landed in Provincetown at the tip of Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Then, the ship kept on going, until it reached Plymouth. But when they got there, they highly underestimated how hard it was to live there. It was much colder than back in England, and crops had to be planted at different times of the year.

However, one man by the name of Squanto saved the Pilgrims. Squanto knew English and Algonquin, the language the Wampanoag (the natives to the land) spoke. He helped the English, like teaching them how to use fish as fertilizer. Soon, the English had a large harvest! They had a celebration, and soon, the Wampanoag came over to investigate gunshots. The gunshots were actually celebratory gunshots. The English invited the Wampanoag for the feast, but there wasn’t enough food, so the Wampanoag went to catch many more animals. This harvest festival continued for three days, and everyone had a great time.

In 1863, during the middle of the civil war, Abraham Lincoln, who was trying to reunite the nation, declared Thanksgiving, which at the time was just a traditional harvest festival, a official national holiday. There were a few changes of the date of Thanksgiving in the 1930s and 40s; FDR changed the date from the Fourth to the Third Thursday of November in 1938. But in 1941, it was reversed to the Fourth Thursday of November. And that is how it has stayed in the United States since.

There are many traditions practiced. The first is food. The most iconic food is turkey. As I am writing this right now, my family's turkey is being cooked. In 2020, there were over 200 million turkeys sold. The other traditional foods include Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Squash, Corn, Pumpkin or Cranberry Pie, and many more. Another tradition is parades and football games. The Macy's Parade is one of the largest in the whole entire world, taking place in New York for around 100 years now. Plus, there are Thanksgiving NFL and CFL games, as well as numerous High School and College games. 

Thanksgiving is on Thursday. The day after is Black Friday. You can find deals on most big brands. And afterward is Small Business Saturday, which is like Black Friday, but with locally owned small businesses. And finally, on the Monday following that is Cyber Monday, which is the Black Friday of online shopping.

In the 1500s, an explorer named Martin Frobisher landed in Newfoundland, in eastern Canada. He was searching for a passage connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, known at  the time as the Northwest Passage. The Northwest Passage is technically real, as you can travel from the eastern side of Canada to Alaska by weaving through the many islands there. When Frobisher landed in Newfoundland, there was a festival for Frobisher’s safe landing. The date changed many times, sometimes in April and November before the date was finalized in 1957.

There are many similarities between Traditions in Canada and the United States. Both have Turkeys,  Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Squash, and all other foods. And there's a very simple reason: during the American Revolution and Civil War, loyalists and those displaced from the war fled to the then-British colony of Canada. Those people brought along their traditions, including, you guessed it, Thanksgiving.

You might notice Liberia is on the list of countries. That is because Liberia was a country founded by ex-slaves. Many of the people living there brought along their traditions just like those in Canada. 

The Philippines have an interesting history with Thanksgiving. As a former American Colony, Thanksgiving was celebrated in public and in secret by Americans and Filipinos before and during WWII, even while the country was occupied by Japan. The tradition was continued until 1969, then was revived by the President Ferdinand Marcos. However, after Marcos was ousted in 1986, the holiday went away as well. Last year, it was sort of revived, as an unofficial celebration. I could not find any information about Thanksgiving in Philippines this year.

Rwanda and St Lucia both celebrate Thanksgiving as a harvest festival.

Similarly, Germany, the UK, and Japan have similar festivals to Thanksgiving, called Erntedankfest (Harvest Thanksgiving Festival), 勤労感謝の日 (Labor Thanksgiving Day), and The Harvest Festival of Thanksgiving, respectively. These all happen around the same time of year, when the crops were harvested.

As you can see, Thanksgiving has a very long history, but there are also many similarities between Thanksgiving and Harvest Festivals in several countries.

I hope you have enjoyed this article. Stay tuned, as on December 1st, I will upload another article!