Thanksgiving 2020 - History, Meaning, Quotes, Message, Food

But I wanted to talk about the differences between American Thanksgiving and Canadian Thanksgiving. So as you may know both Canadian and American Thanksgiving they look pretty similar but there are a lot of differences.

The most obvious difference is when they're celebrated. In the US Thanksgiving is on the 4th Thursday of November and it's usually celebrated on that Thursday while in Canada. It's on the second Monday of October.

And sometimes it's celebrated on that Monday but it could also be celebrated on the Saturday or Sunday of that long weekend. And interestingly the second Monday of October is also a holiday in the US but it's Columbus Day.

Now over in the US Thanksgiving on Thursday is a public holiday but Friday is kind of state by state although most people get the Friday off as well so it's generally a four day weekend.

While in Canada Monday is the public holiday and it's not national there are actually four Atlantic provinces that do not have Thanksgiving as a statutory holiday.

And as a bit of a side note in Quebec while it is a statutory holiday there it's not as commonly celebrated as it is in the rest of the country because in the US they get that Friday off or at least most people get that Friday off.

And because of some past traditions, Black Friday is a big part of Thanksgiving weekend where things go on sale and it's a huge shopping day in the year getting ready for Christmas.

On the day after Thanksgiving but in Canada Thanksgiving is on a Monday so there's no Black Friday the day after Thanksgiving. However on American Black Friday.

There are a lot of stores in Canada that will do Black Friday sales but it's not a holiday for us or a day off and the sales aren't quite as good or as intense as they are in the US.

So even though they're on different days and different months the way Canadians and Americans celebrate Thanksgiving looks really similar.

It's a gathering or meal usually with your family. There's always turkey and pumpkin pie. They look really similar.

Thanksgiving Football Playing

Football is something that both country's holiday shares. In Canada, the CFL the Canadian Football League puts on a doubleheader called The Thanksgiving Day Classic.

And I would say it's not quite as big of a deal as football is in U.S thanksgiving. But it still exists and in the US the tradition of having football games held on Thanksgiving Day dates way back to the 19th century.

Today you'll still see professional football games on TV on Thanksgiving Day. You'll even see high school football games being held on Thanksgiving and families just going out in their backyards or to a park and playing football games before or after Thanksgiving dinner.

Thanksgiving Day Parades

Another tradition that both countries share is the Thanksgiving Day parades. So in the US, it's the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade which has been around since 1924 and happens in New York.

And it's huge averaging over 24 million viewers which is a little over 7% of the US population and in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade you'll see a lot of famous names or famous people like musicians or actors and actresses.

You'll see renditions and Broadway shows that are on right now and a lot of marching bands and huge floats. It's a really big deal and a lot of families watch this together on Thanksgiving morning followed by the dog show.

And Canada has a parade to the Kitchener Waterloo October Fest puts on the Thanksgiving Day parade and I would say that it's not as grandiose or as big of a deal or even as popular as the parade is in the US but it's still a Thanksgiving Day Parade and in 2017.

It was estimated at its peak to have about a million viewers which would be under 3 percent of the Canadian population. So other than one being on a Thursday the other being on a Monday and one being in November the other being in October they seem pretty similar.

Historical Difference

Are we celebrating the same thing? They are both built around a harvest celebration but the histories of the two Thanksgivings are totally different and one is a bit more complicated than the other one in the US.

When we talk about where Thanksgiving originates we're talking about one specific event that everyone knows about but in Canada, there's not really one specific event that we see as the origin of Thanksgiving.

But there are two events that are probably the most likely. So the first most likely origin of Thanksgiving in Canada happened in 1578.

During the third expedition to find the Northwest Passage when the group of ships they were separated because of its really bad weather and ice. But in August they finally reunited in what's now.

None of it and to give thanks to God for reuniting them. This group of people gathered for a communal meal but they never actually found the Northwest Passage or created a successful settlement here.

The second most likely origin was in 1606 when settlers of what is now Nova Scotia. They had a really rough winter and they had a lot of deaths in their community mostly due to scurvy so they wanted to raise spirits and they created something called the Order of good cheer.

Where through the next winter they got together weekly for a communal feast and they even invited their McMath neighbors apologies because I know I'm probably pronouncing that wrong but those were the indigenous people in the area and then after the first winter they made it an annual tradition to have a communal feast.

Now heading south of the border and a few years later and 1620. The pilgrims made it over on the Mayflower and set up a colony. And in 1621 one to celebrate their first successful harvest they held a three-day gathering.

A communal feast. And this three-day feast was also attended by about 90 members of the Wampanoag tribe. Apologies. I am also pronouncing that one incorrectly I'm sure.

But these were the native people in that area and they actually outnumber the number of pilgrims there were roughly about 50 pilgrims. And we don't actually know when this three-day feast was even held.

But it was most likely somewhere between the end of September and mid-November most likely being in October which is interesting when Canadian Thanksgiving is now celebrated.

The same is true for both countries and that the origins did not lead to a yearly and annual Thanksgiving that's been held ever since the very first Thanksgiving in Canada. Thanksgiving didn't really start solidifying as a tradition until 1763 when the British took over.

But even then the reasons and the dates for celebration changed and it was different in different regions and in the US it was even a little bit later in the 18th century when a few presidents would name Thanksgiving days on certain years.

But these days were at different times and it wasn't an annual tradition. And then later on in the 19th century, it was state governors that would start naming Thanksgiving days.

And it wasn't until the 18th thirties that Americans even started looking at that first three-day feast between the Pilgrims and the Native Americans as the first Thanksgiving. The U.S. was the first of the two to actually make Thanksgiving an official annual holiday.

This happened in 1863 under Lincoln who named it as kind of a celebration of civil war victories but as happened annually ever since that first official Thanksgiving was held on the last Thursday of November and has been held on that date ever since.

Although at one point it did switch from last Thursday of November to the fourth Thursday of November because there are some Novembers that have five Thursdays and Canada was only 15 years behind at making Thanksgiving an official holiday with the first official Thanksgiving being on November 6th, 1879.

And the date originally bounced back and forth between October and November. And the government would use Thanksgiving as a way to celebrate different things each year like maybe a harvest or a special anniversary. And it finally stopped bouncing around in 1957 when Parliament decided on a date and a reason for the celebration which was the second Monday of October.

And to thank God for the harvest that Canada had that year in both countries the dates of Thanksgiving throughout history changed. Both had some in November and October the US's first thanksgiving was most likely in October. Canada's first official Thanksgiving was definitely in November.

Why did Canada land on the second Monday in October and the US landed on the fourth Thursday of November?

We can't be 100 percent sure here but some people think that in Canada because it's a colder climate. Harvest happens a bit earlier which is why we would be harvesting and celebrating in October.

But another reason might be Remembrance Day which is a holiday in Canada held in November so it's just a way to put a separation between the two of those in the US.

It's the end of November just because that's the first date that Abraham Lincoln named it an official holiday and we followed that tradition ever since.

Now neither of these countries invented the idea of having a harvest celebration and they aren't even the only two countries in the world that celebrate something like a Thanksgiving.

But because the two countries are so close together in proximity it's interesting to look at the differences and the similarities between the two.

So as a bit of a recap the origin of Thanksgiving in Canada was either in 1578 when a bunch of explorers got together to thank God that they didn't all die or in 16 0 6 when a bunch of settlers got together to raise their spirits because so many of them were dying an American Thanksgiving originated in 1621 when the Mayflower pilgrims got together to celebrate their first successful harvest in the new land.

The Americans made it an official holiday first in 1863 and the Canadians made it an official holiday in 1879. In the US Thanksgiving is held on the fourth Thursday of November while in Canada it's held on the second Monday of October.

Well like other holidays I would say that Thanksgiving is celebrated a bit bigger and a bit more grandiose in the US. That's probably helped a bit by Americans getting a four day weekend and most Americans celebrating Thanksgiving on Thursday.

While Canadians get a three day weekend and because it's a Monday they often celebrated on Saturday or Sunday so it's not even held on the same day for everybody. But even if it is generally a bit bigger in the US the two celebrations do look really similar.

They're both families getting together over a big meal consisting of similar types of food and football and parades exist in both holidays so there are a lot of details I can cover. But those are the highlights of the differences and similarities between American and Canadian Thanksgiving. I hope you enjoyed it. 

But why did Franklin D. Roosevelt try to change the date of Thanksgiving?

Why should you stay away from characters with hats in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade? 

Why would you make a pie out of pumpkins? 

Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated in various states in various countries including but not limited to the United States, Canada, Liberia, and several of the Caribbean islands. For the purposes of this article, we're going to be focusing on American Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving began as a day of giving thanks. I know it for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. Today, it's an occasion to spend time with family and loved ones and to be appreciative of all the good things in life like stuffing and mayonnaise. 

In the United States, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. This means that Thanksgiving can occur as early as the 22nd of November and as late as the twenty-eighth 

The modern celebration of Thanksgiving in the US usually involves a large meal known as Thanksgiving dinner. Not very imaginative names. Either way, which features a large roasted turkey, serve the variety of side dishes, including mashed potato stuffing and cranberry sauce. 

The common Thanksgiving traditions include attending or watching parades, giving to charity, and watching American football and Thanksgiving specials on TV as the Good Lord intended.

while prayers and celebrations are giving thanks exist in virtually all religions and cultures. The history of Thanksgiving in North America is rooted in English traditions of giving thanks dating back to the Protestant Reformation, in which critics of the Catholic Church broke off to form their own Christian denominations. 

Some of these groups wanted to replace most of or all the traditional religious holidays with days of fasting and days of Thanksgiving. Days of fasting would be held in response to events perceived to indicate God's disapproval, whereas days of Thanksgiving would celebrate events perceived to indicate God's favor and mercy 

The story of Thanksgiving begins in the year 16 20, when a group of 102 English settlers, now known as the Pilgrims, traveled to America on the Mayflower and established the Plymouth Colony in Plymouth, Massachusetts. This was the second successful permanent settlement by the Europeans in what is now the United States following the founding of Jamestown, Virginia, and 67. 

Soon after they arrived, the settlers were taught how to catch eels and grow corn for the local Wampanoag tribe of Native Americans, contributing to the success of the colony.

The following year and 16 21, the pilgrims celebrated their bountiful harvest with an enormous feast held in early autumn in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and celebrated together by the pilgrims and the Native Americans. This is commonly recognized as the first-ever Thanksgiving.

It's believed that this first Thanksgiving was attended by 50 pilgrims, just over half the settlers reaching America. In fact, some historians believe that as few as only five women were present at that first Thanksgiving. The first Thanksgiving was also attended by roughly 90 Wampanoag Indians. It was a proper old knee up.

Unlike today's traditional Thanksgiving dinner, the very first Thanksgiving dinner did not feature Turkey as a main cooked Avión. The first Thanksgiving dinner was probably centered around a cooked duck, goose. 

There were also no forks for the very first Thanksgiving. Folks didn't become a popular utensil until the 18th century, and as such, the first Thanksgiving dinner was likely consumed using spoons, knives, and hopefully washed hands. 

On the 3rd of October 1789, the first president of the United States, George Washington, declared the twenty-sixth in November 1789 as a National Day of Thanksgiving and prayer, constituting the first formal proclamation of Thanksgiving.

After Washington left office, other presidents like John Adams and James Madison also declared days of Thanksgiving. However, several early U.S. presidents actively disapproved of National Thanksgiving Day, such as Thomas Jefferson, who is thought to oppose the holiday based on the belief that such a proclamation would violate the separation of church and state. On one occasion, Jefferson condemned the idea of a federal Thanksgiving proclamation as the most ridiculous idea ever conceived.

Thanksgiving was made an official federal holiday by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, right in the middle of the American Civil War. Abe Lincoln proclaimed that on the 26th of November, the final Thursday of the month, there would be a national day of. 

Thanksgiving and praise to our benefit and father who dwelleth in the heavens. You can't prove that's not what he sounded like by the White House. Good impression. And Jefferson wasn't kidding about the whole separation of church and state. 

Lincoln was prompted to make Thanksgiving official by the actions of a magazine editor named Sarah Christopher Hale, who passionately believe that the National Day of Thanksgiving with the United Nation careering toward civil war after an incredible 17 years of campaigning and writing letters, President Lincoln finally made Thanksgiving a national holiday.

Amazingly, the woman who made Thanksgiving official has another interesting claim to fame. As Hale also wrote the popular nursery rhyme, Mary had a little lamb.

In 1939, President Franklin Roosevelt decided to change the date of Thanksgiving from the last Thursday of November to the second to last in an attempt to stimulate the economy during the Great Depression by giving more people time to shop at Christmas. 

Unfortunately, however, the change of date caused a lot of confusion. Most states held Thanksgiving on its original date, and three states Colorado, Mississippi, and Texas celebrated the holiday on both weeks.

The result in public outcry caused by Roosevelt's date change was. So profound that many people mockingly referred to the Thanksgiving date as Franks giving. After only two years, the U.S. government abandoned the new policy and set the fourth Thursday, November as the legal date of Thanksgiving 

These people were called the Puritans.There were about 100 men women and children who left England and the king and his church. They had a dream of religious freedom.

They failed on a ship. That ship was called the Mayflower. They said all the way to the new world. These brave travelers that we now call the Pilgrims land in Plymouth.

After a journey that lasted about forty five days. The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock On December 11, 1620.

Wow that was a long time ago almost 400 years. The cold snowy winter of the north eastern United States that we know of now where what these pilgrims were introduced to This new land was strange to them. Nothing seemed familiar. 

And many of the pilgrims are still This new world. Their winter was long called a heavy heart for the pilgrims. I should have worn a bigger jacket. 

Luckily Native Americans helped the Pilgrims by giving him seeds and food. The Native Americans started to teach the Pilgrims about their new home. They also gave the pilgrims the skills needed to survive in the strange new land. 

That first year in their new home was very hard for the pilgrims. However with the seeds and plants given to them from the Native Americans the Pilgrims planted crops in that fall. The Pilgrims harvest was so good and they had much food to share. 

To celebrate the crops and the help from the Native Americans. The Pilgrims had a feast of Thanksgiving many different foods were cooked for the Feast, Ducks, Geese, fish and venison which is deer meat was served along with fish, pumpkins, squash, corn, sweet potatoes and cranberries.

There was actually no turkey. Served on that very first Thanksgiving believe it or not. And yes pumpkins were at the feast but not pumpkin pie and no cranberry sauce as well. Just cranberries with some other fruits. 

Captain Myles Standish who was the leader of the Pilgrims decided to invite all of the Native Americans who had helped them so much during their first year. 

Everyone had such a great time celebrating this feast together. It lasted for three days. Your mama. This feast from the harvest in 1621 is often called the first stink skipping. The first national Thanksgiving Day was proclaimed by President George Washington. 

In 1789 over the years the day we now celebrate as Thanksgiving became an important tradition in the United States a day of giving thanks for all that we have.

But this may not have happened if it wasn't for Sarah Josepha Hale that she wrote Mary Had a Little Lamb. The song actually has absolutely zero to do with Thanksgiving. I just really like lamps.

That's right Quinn. Besides writing the song Mary Had a Little Lamb. Sarah also convinced President Lincoln in 1863 to make Thanksgiving a national holiday. 

After writing letters for 17 years campaigning for this to happen. Abraham Lincoln declared that the last Thursday in November should be celebrated as Thanksgiving because it has been celebrated every year in the United States. 

Thanksgiving was finally made an official federal holiday and moved to the fourth Thursday of November in 1941 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Almost 90 percent of Americans eat Turkey on Thanksgiving each year. Wow. That's a lot of turkey

About 46 million turkeys are eaten every thanksgiving day. 

But for almost 70 years the current president of the United States has chosen one lucky turkey to not be chosen for Thanksgiving and that Turkey will live on the farm until it passes away of old age.

 Have you ever had a TV dinner or microwave arable dinner. Well did you know that Thanksgiving is the reason that these were invented. 

See in 1953 the company Swanson had so much left over turkey over two hundred and sixty tons that someone from the company had the idea to package the leftover turkey onto aluminum trays and include some other sides like sweet potatoes. 

The company decided this was a great idea and that's how TV dinners were born. And for our final fact about Thanksgiving. 

Do you know what balloon character has been on more Macy's Day Thanksgiving parade than any other. Leave your guests in the comments below. And let's see if you're right. The answer is. Snoopy.