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Thanksgiving is a special day set aside in many parts of the world
to offer thanks for life's blessings. In the United States it is a legal holiday that is customarily celebrated
at home with friends and family who share elaborate traditional feasts.
The legal holiday in the U.S. was first celebrated in early colonial times in New England. The actual origin, however,
is probably the harvest festivals that are traditional in many parts of the world. The original Thanksgiving event,
held in 1621, was a celebration of the first harvest completed by 56 Plymouth colonists and 91 Native American
neighbors who helped the Pilgrims survive their first year.
In 1623 a day of fasting and prayer during a period of drought was changed to one of thanksgiving because the rain
came during the prayers. Gradually the custom prevailed in New England of annually celebrating thanksgiving after
the harvest.
During the American Revolution a yearly day of national thanksgiving was suggested by the Continental Congress.
In 1817 New York State adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom, and by the middle of the 19th century many
other states had done the same. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed a day of thanksgiving, and since then
each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation, generally designating the fourth Thursday of November
as a holiday.
Thanksgiving is a statutory holiday in Canada, celebrated, since 1957, on the second Monday in October. Observance
of the day began in 1879. |
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