On Thursday November 26, 2020 the United States will be celebrating Thanksgiving. This is considered a federal holiday usually celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. Sometimes it is also called American Thanksgiving (outside of the U.S.) so it doesn’t get confused with the Canadian holiday of the same name.
The history of Thanksgiving goes back to about 1607 with the first settlement in Jamestown, Virginia. This was known as Thanksgiving services.
Time passed and the most relevant historic event of Thanksgiving in the United States took place at the Plymouth Plantation in 1621. The Pilgrims had settled in land abandoned when all but one of the Patuxet Indians died in a disease outbreak. A severe winter killed half of the Plymouth settlers, the last to survive is known as Squanto.
Squanto spoke English and he taught the pilgrims how to catch eel and grow corn and at the same time he served as an interpreter for them until he died a year later succumbed to the disease.
In addition, the pilgrims celebrated at Plymouth for three days after their first harvest in 1621. The exact time of the celebration is unknown but according to James Baker, Plimoth Plantation vice president of research stated back in 1996, “ The event occurred between Sept. 21 and Nov. 11, 1621 with the most time being around Michaelmas, the traditional time.”
How did it become a holiday in the United States?
The First National Proclamation of Thanksgiving was given by the Continental Congress in 1777 from the temporary location of York, Pennsylvania and the British occupied the national capital of Philadelphia. Samuel Adams created the the first draft and then congress took the final version.
George Washington proclaimed a Thanksgiving in December 1777 as a victory celebration in honor of the defeat of the British at Saratoga.
Hence, since 1863 Thanksgiving has been observed annually in the United States. The date was fixed on the fourth Thursday in November by law in 1941, meaning that it can happen on any date from November 22 to 28.
Lastly, after the short summary of Thanksgiving, all that can be said is that the main point of the celebration is to give thanks for everything you have.
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