Thanksgiving

What is Thanksgiving?  Well depends who you ask.  By definition, Thanksgiving is a day set aside for the purpose of giving thanks.  It also means a prayer expressing gratitude, a public acknowledgement or celebration of divine goodness.  For thousands of years, people have set aside a day each year to celebrate bountiful annual harvest.  Many consider the most famous Thanksgiving was the one held in the year of 1621at Plymouth where the Pilgrims (earlier known as Separatists) shared it with the Native Americans but many people may not know that the Pilgrims had many "Thanksgiving" celebrations occurring as early as 1607 at Cape Henry Virginia.  It was these early years that most likely established the tradition that we now continue.

The Pilgrims set sail for American on September 6, 1620 and for two months braved the harsh elements of the stormy seas.  After arriving at Plymouth Rock, they had a prayer service and began building shelters but they had little understanding of how harsh the winters were going to be and nearly half of them died before spring.  With much prayer and then assisted by the Indians they had a successful first summer with plenty of food to store for winter.  It was with gratitude that the Pilgrims declared a three-day  fest in December 1621 to thank God and to celebrate with their Indian friends.

The early colonists of New England regularly celebrated "Thanksgivings" after a military victory, end to a drought, or other favorable events as well. The Pilgrims periodically proclaimed a Day of Thanksgiving and Praise in response to evidence of God's favor or a Day of Humiliation and Fasting in response to God's perceived displeasure. These feast and fast days were usually held on the day of special sermons called "Lecture Day," which was Thursday in Massachusetts.

The first national Thanksgiving occurred in 1789 and according to the Congressional Record for September 25 of that year, (immediately after approving the Bill of Rights):

Mr. (Elias) Boudinot said he could not thing of letting the (congressional) session pass without offering an opportunity to all the citizens of the United States of joining with one voice in returning to Almighty God their sincere thanks for the many blessings He had poured down upon them. With this view, therefore, he would move the following resolution:

Resolved, That a joint committee of both Houses be directed to wait upon the President of the United States to request that he would recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer. . . .

Mr. Roger Sherman justified the practice of Thanksgiving and the resolution was delivered to President George Washington, who agreed with the congressional request. Thanksgiving was proclaimed by the President at the request of Congress and recommended Thursday, 26 November, 1789, to the people of the United States "as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favours of Almighty God." However, after 1798 the proclamation of a Thanksgiving Day was left to the states, for Southerners were slow to adopt the custom, some objected to the federal government's involvement in religious observance, and others disliked the partisan speeches and parades that became customary.

Thanksgiving Day became an official holiday once Northerners dominated the federal government. In 1863, after the battle at Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving to be held on August 6. Soon the public began to ask for an annual observance, so in 1867, President Andrew Johnson established the last Thursday in November as the official Thanksgiving Day. Two attempts were made by later presidents to adjust the date: in 1870 Ulysses S. Grant moved it to November 18 and from 1939 to 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt moved it back a week to extend the Christmas shopping season.

Thanksgiving football games began in 1876 with a game between Yale and Princeton. In the late 1800s, parades of costumed revelers became common, and in 1924 the first annual Macy's parade was conducted. Giant balloons were added in 1927 and have been a staple ever since.

One more bit of history on the matter has to do with the menu.  For the first Thanksgiving there was probably a bit different that what you will be having on your table.  Geese and ducks were the mainstay rather than the harder-to-catch turkeys, since they reported they "in one day killed as much as... served the company almost a week." Other items on the menu probably included fish, eels, shellfish, stews and vegetables.  It is said that the Indians brought venison.
I pray your Thanksgiving is spent with a few minutes of reflection and gratitude for ALL Lord has blessed you with this past year.  Everyone of us has SOMETHING to be thankful for!


Some other countries and their Thanksgivings:

• Australia, is celebrated in the month of March and is celebrated 3-4 days long.
• Brazile, Dia Nacional de Aceo de Gracas, 4th Thursday of November.
• British Isles, Lammas Day (August 1st), a harvest festival that dates back to medieval times.
• Canada, Thanksgiving Day or Fete de Grace, or Harvest home Festival, 2nd Monday in October. Theirs also arose during the colonial period like the United States. The earliest Canadian Thanksgiving was held in 1578, when Martin Frobisher held a ceremony in present-day Newfoundland to give thanks for a safe arrival in the New World. In 1879, Parliament established a national Thanksgiving day on November 6; since 1957, Thanksgiving Day has been celebrated in Canada on the second Monday in October.
• Chinese, the Ancient Chinese celebrated Chung Ch'ui, during harvest time.
• Germany, Erntedankfest, 1st Sunday in October.
• Greeks, the Ancient Greeks during autumn held a festival to honor the goddess of corn and grains, Demeter.
• Grenada, Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on October 25 and is a holiday that marks the anniversary of the US led invasion of the island in 1983.
• India, is primarily celebrated in the state of Goa, with a different name.  It is poularly known as 'Ladin" or 'Ladainha'.
• Israel, Sukkot, the 5th day after Yom Kippur.
• Japan, Labor Thanksgiving Day, November 23.
• Korea, Chusok, 15th day of the eighth lunar month of the traditional Korean calendar.
• Leiden, in the Netherlands celebrates Thanksgiving.
• Liberia, Thanksgiving Day, 1st Thursday in November.
• Malaysia, the Kadazan harvest festival of Malaysia is celebrated by sabah every year in the month of May to thank their favourite Rice God.  It is locally known as "Tadau ka'amatan".
• Mexico, Independence Day, September 16th.
• Rome, the Ancient Romans, during autumn held a celebration honoring the goddess of corn, Ceres.
• Switzerland, The Federal Day of Thanks, Penance, and Prayer, 3rd Sunday in September.
• United States celebrates Thanksgiving.

*William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation (Boston: Little, Brown & Co, 1856)
The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United State (Washington: Gales & Seaton, 1834)