If you enjoy watching American television shows, then you are probably aware of the American holiday of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a North American harvest festival celebrated in both the United States of America and Canada during the fall (autumn). It is a time of celebration in both counties. Families get together, feast together and rejoice together.
History
Harvest festivals were celebrated all through Europe. The festivals were held before and after their harvest cycles to celebrate jointly after all the hard work. They were celebrated to thank God for the bountiful harvest, and for keeping them safe during their voyages. The people of entire communities would come together to prepare and eat the harvested foods. When the Europeans first travelled to North America, their traditions travelled with them.
The Native Americans had inhabited the continent of North America for over 12,000 years. Some of the different tribes which lived then were the Anasazi, the Sioux Nations, The Iroquois Confederacy, the Inuit, the Mound Builders, etc. The Native Americans had rituals, traditions and customs for celebrating the harvest. They believed that spirits lived in their produce (corn, beans, pumpkin, etc.) and hence, most of their rituals were focused on gratifying the spirits.
The positive cooperation between these early colonists and the native tribes birthed the modern-day thanksgiving festival. In the U.S., Thanksgiving is celebrated not just to give thanks for the harvest, but also to give thanks to the Native tribes accepting them.
American Thanksgiving vs Canadian Thanksgiving
The American festival of thanksgiving is celebrated in the United States on the 4th Thursday of November. It is one of the most celebrated festivals in the country. For the entire nation, Thanksgiving Day is declared a holiday. The people come together and celebrate with feasts, watching football matches and parades. The feast majorly contains an entire turkey for the main course and pumpkin pie for dessert. The festival ends with massive shopping (retail and online) by the citizens.
The Canadian festival of thanksgiving by comparison may be less famous. But it is in essence similar to the American one. The Canadians celebrate thanksgiving as a harvest festival in October. It is celebrated for three days, Saturday through Monday. Although it is not declared a national holiday. Some regions of the country, like the Atlantic Provinces, don't even celebrate thanksgiving.
Difference Between Thanksgiving in the US and Canada in Tabular Form
| Parameters of Comparison | American Thanksgiving | Canadian Thanksgiving |
| Celebrated on | 4th Thursday of November | 2nd Monday of October |
| Celebrated for | Four days- Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday | Three days- Saturday, Sunday and Monday |
| Parades | Several large parades. Most famous- Macy’s Parade | Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest parade |
| Post thanksgiving shopping | Black Friday, Cyber Monday | No such shopping craze |
| Thanksgiving feast eaten on | Thursday | Can be on any of the three days |
| Traditions | Parades, Football games | Long walk outdoors. Parades and football are not given much hype |
| Main dish | Turkey | Turkey can be replaced with ham or chicken |
| Giving gratitude for | Bountiful harvest, the peace treaty between early settlers and Native Americans | Bountiful harvest, safe passage on voyages |
What is the American Festival of Thanksgiving?
The festival of thanksgiving is the biggest festival celebrated in the United States of America. The main Thanksgiving event is celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November. The festival is celebrated nationwide for a total of four days, from Thursday to Sunday. The festivities include watching American football matches, the parade and excessive shopping. Several parades take place during thanksgiving, the most famous of them being “The Macy’s Parade.” The churches and other services in the country celebrate the holiday by giving food to the needy. Some of the traditions include,
- Watching the parades and football matches
- The Thanksgiving Day feast- On Thursday, entire families travel from all over the country to come together to enjoy the Thanksgiving Day feast. This feast has as its main course an entire turkey. The carving of the turkey by a family member is a ritual in and of itself. Due to the importance turkey has in the celebrations, thanksgiving day is also called "Turkey Day." The other important dish served during this feast is pumpkin pie.
- Shopping- After the festivities of the previous days, Friday sees a massive shopping trend. The people of the country would even stand in line for hours to avail of the discounts on what is popularly called "Black Friday." Named thus, because it is the only day of the year when the stores’ profits go from red to black in an instant. Further, for people who won’t want to wait in line for hours, there’s also “Cyber Monday.” It is celebrated on the Monday after the Thanksgiving Day celebrations and involves massive online shopping. It is the next highest shopping day in the country after black Friday.
Origin
The story associated with thanksgiving is that of the pilgrims. They were originally from England. But since they were puritans, they experienced heavy religious persecution in England. Therefore, they decided to flee from the country to start life anew. They left England in 1620 on a ship named the “Mayflower.” Throughout their journey, they experienced many hardships, but they were eventually able to make port in North America. They called this place Plymouth, after their original city back home. Since they arrived in North America during the winter, they could not grow crops, and many of them died due to hunger and harsh weather.
When spring finally arrived, a Native American boy, named Squanto befriended the pilgrims. He taught them everything they needed to know to survive on their land, including how to fish, hunt, grow crops, and how to tap the maple trees for sap. He even taught them which of the land’s plants were poisonous and which were beneficial. Without Squanto, the Pilgrims would not have survived.
Thanks to Squanto’s help, that year the pilgrims were able to harvest a bountiful amount of crops. To express their gratitude, the pilgrims organized a feast and invited the Native Americans to join them. This feast continued for three days. It is said that Chief Wampanoag, who was an integral part of the peace treaty between them, also attended this feast. This event, for years later would be celebrated as Thanksgiving Day.
Setting the Official Date
The harvest festival or thanksgiving was celebrated from time to time in America for several centuries. This went on, until in 1863, then president Abraham Lincoln declared it a national U.S. holiday. He did this during the Civil War hoping to cultivate unity between the North and South. He chose the last Thursday of November as the day for celebrating thanksgiving.
In 1939, President Roosevelt changed the celebration of thanksgiving from the last Thursday to the penultimate Thursday, of November. During the 1930s the United Nations went through the Great Depression, which put the majority of its population under a financial burden. President Roosevelt changed the date of thanksgiving so that the vendors could sell their commodities before Christmas.
In 1941, congress officially made Thanksgiving an official holiday and decided it would take place on the fourth Thursday in November.
Food Eaten During The Festival
Entire families come together to celebrate thanksgiving in the United States. Therefore the meals are prepared in excess to feed 5- 10 people. The main dish is turkey. Some of the other common foods include,
- Pumpkin pie which is made with custard in it. This gives it a very sweet taste.
- A casserole made with sugar, spices and butter, finished with marshmallows on the top.
- Cornbread is used for the stuffing in the Southern states of the U.S., while the Northern States avail rice and the Eastern states use oysters.
- Rolls of cornbread and muffins.
- Cranberry sauce
What is the Canadian Festival of Thanksgiving?
The Canadian festival of thanksgiving is celebrated as a harvest festival itself. The main event is celebrated on the 2nd Monday of October. The date is different from the American one, as in Canada, the crops are harvested earlier. Therefore, they rejoice and give thanks for the harvest a month earlier. Thanksgiving Day is celebrated as a three-day weekend from Saturday to Monday. Canadians do not give as much importance to thanksgiving celebrations compared to Americans. So, they may or may not travel to join their families for the holidays. Canadians also celebrate thanksgiving by having a grand feast. They usually prepare turkey, although some people may substitute it with ham or chicken or other meat. The dessert after the meal is pumpkin pie, which is spicy, not sweet. Canadian thanksgiving also has parades and football matches. The Canadian Football League plays a doubleheader called the “Thanksgiving Day Classic”, which is broadcast all over the country. Although they only have one parade which is broadcast nationwide, the “Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest.”
One unique factor associated with Canadian thanksgiving is that every year they will have an official reason to be thankful for that year. Some of the reasons were, the “cessation of cholera (1833)”, the "End of the sanguinary contest in Europe (1814)", etc.
Origin
Canadians will argue that Canadian thanksgiving emerged way before the United States began to celebrate it. Some evidence does exist in support of this. History says that Canadians celebrated their first thanksgiving in 1578 when Martin Frobisher sailed to North America. Frobisher’s original intent was to travel to Asia, but during one of his journeys, he was caught in a storm, which rerouted him to the current region of Newfoundland in Canada. He expressed his gratitude for the safe journey by holding a ceremony. This story is said to be the origin of thanksgiving in Canada.
Setting the Official Date
The first official Thanksgiving Day celebration is said to have been in 1578, held by Martin Frobisher. After this, Canadians celebrated thanksgiving periodically during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Ultimately, it was on April 5, 1872, that Canadians celebrated their first official thanksgiving. It was celebrated because the then Prince of Wales had convalesced from a grave illness. In 1879, the Canadian parliament proclaimed it to be a national holiday. Afterwards, the date of celebrating Thanksgiving Day kept changing throughout the decades, from being celebrated in April to being celebrated in November. Until finally in 1957, it was decided on the 2nd Monday of October.
Food Eaten During The Festival
Since the official thanksgiving is on a Monday, people don’t have enough time to recover from the feast, if eaten on that day. Therefore, they tend to have the thanksgiving feast on any of the three days.
Just like the American version, the Canadian thanksgiving feast also has turkey. This is hypothesised to be because, during the American Revolution, many of the people who were loyal to the British migrated to Canada. Through this migration, they brought with them some of the American traditions. The other common foods prepared are,
- Pumpkin pie is prepared using ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. The presence of all these spices gives the Canadian pumpkin pie a spicy taste.
- Sweet potatoes are baked or mashed.
- Bread crumbs or rice is used as the stuffing.
- Rolls of wheat-based bread.
Main Differences Between Thanksgiving in the U.S and Canada in Points
- American Thanksgiving is commemorated on a Thursday, while Canadian Thanksgiving is commemorated on a Monday.
- Thanksgiving in the United States of America is celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November, while in Canada, it is celebrated on the 2nd Monday of October.
- American Thanksgiving is celebrated as a four-day weekend, from Thursday to Friday. Canadian Thanksgiving is celebrated on a three-day weekend, from Saturday to Monday.
- Both of them eat turkey, although some Canadians may sometimes eat chicken or ham
- While the standard thanksgiving dessert in both countries is pumpkin pie, they are made differently. The American one is sweet, while the Canadian one is spicy.
- Even though it can vary from region to region, in Canada the turkey is stuffed with rice and bread crumbs. In the United States, the turkey is stuffed with cornbread.
- The United States has some post-thanksgiving shopping rituals (Black Friday, Cyber Monday), while there is no such thing in Canada.
- Canadians have certain official reasons to give thanks on thanksgiving. The U.S. does not have such rules.
Conclusion
To sum up, both countries celebrate thanksgiving, both of them had Native American tribes who live there with their traditions, and Europeans migrated into both countries bringing their traditions along.
The American festival is celebrated in November on the 4th Thursday, with a thanksgiving feast of turkey and pumpkin pie, and traditions of giving thanks. Canadian Thanksgiving is celebrated in October on the 2nd Monday. It is comparatively less hyped, but the people still celebrate with a big feast and give thanks for that year’s harvest.
References
- Morrill, A. (2009). Thanksgiving and other harvest festivals. Chelsea House.
- Siskind, J. (1992). The Invention of Thanksgiving: A ritual ofAmerican nationality. Critique of Anthropology, 12(2), 167–191. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308275X9201200205
- https://www.almanac.com/content/ways-canadian-thanksgiving-differs-american-thanksgiving
- https://www.trafalgar.com/real-word/canadian-thanksgiving/#:~:text=Canadian%20Thanksgiving%20is%20held%20in%20October%20%E2%80%93%20on%20a%20Monday&text=While%20the%20US%20Thanksgiving%20is,a%20national%20holiday%20in%201879
- https://www.bustle.com/life/canadian-thanksgiving-vs-american-thanksgiving