What Is Thanksgiving For?

What is Thanksgiving for? A day off. Spending time with family and tiptoeing around politics. Football. Eating excessively. That’s the short answer. But, of course, there’s more to the story. Here’s the American version, with a little shout out at the end to—what are they called again?—oh yeah, other countries.

 

American History

In the spirit of giving thanks, I’ll recognize Encyclopedia Britannica for providing a nice summary, paraphrased below.

Thanksgiving is an annual national holiday that celebrates the harvest along with other blessings from the preceding year. A 1621 harvest feast between the Pilgrims of Plymouth and the Wampanoag tribe of Native Americans is often recognized as the first Thanksgiving in what would become the United States. (Historians wonder if the protein was more likely to have been goose, duck, and/or venison as opposed to turkey.) Obviously, verifying this event as the first giving of thanks by Europeans on future American soil is impossible. Similarly, assuming that Native Americans had given thanks long before this particular occasion is quite reasonable.

Over the ensuing centuries, the idea of Thanksgiving continued, though celebrations remained confined to individual colonies (and later states). Because the gratitude was usually directed to a theoretical higher power, i.e. God, observances often had religious undertones.

In 1789, George Washington issued a national proclamation of Thanksgiving to recognize the successful achievement of independence and ratification of the US Constitution. This act, however, did not result in a lasting nationwide event.

The situation picked up steam in the 1800s with the writer and editor Sarah Josepha Hale, who campaigned aggressively for Thanksgiving as a national holiday, thus earning her mother of Thanksgiving nickname. In 1863—during the Civil War—Abraham Lincoln listened, proclaiming a national Thanksgiving Day to be held on the final Thursday in November.

For many years, Lincoln’s successors made an annual tradition of declaring the same day as Thanksgiving. From 1939 – 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt attempted to move the day up by a week to facilitate Christmas shopping and spark an economy still dealing with the Great Depression. The move was not popular, and he ultimately signed a joint resolution of Congress in 1941 officially labeling the fourth Thursday in November—usually, but not always, the last one of the month—as Thanksgiving Day.

And that leads us to today.

 

America Today

The modern interpretation of Thanksgiving in the US has become largely a secular one. Gathering with family and friends is customary, and eating a large feast remains the centerpiece of the occasion. Turkey—native to North America—is the standard protein, with stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet corn, cranberries, pumpkin pie, and a bunch of other stuff (if desired) rounding out the menu.

Parades are a big part of the scene, with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City being the gold standard. Watching football, specifically the NFL, is also huge. Given the timing in the calendar year, the occasion remains the gateway to the upcoming holiday season.

Here are a few numbers to help capture the magnitude of the celebration.

97

The percent of Americans who partake in the festivities.

63

The percent of Americans who travel—the vast majority by car—for the holiday.

40 million

The approximate number of turkeys that are killed for Thanksgiving each year.

949 million

The total cost in US dollars of those 40 million turkeys.

3,150 – 4,500

An estimate of the amount of calories Americans ingest during their Thanksgiving meal.

99 million

The number of combined viewers for the NFL games shown on Thanksgiving in 2022.

 

Other Countries and Territories

Many nations dabble in the concept of Thanksgiving without having a formal holiday or, alternatively, have a formal holiday that is not identically named. I’ll briefly mention a few countries and territories that have an actual Thanksgiving Day resembling the one in the US.

Perhaps the cleanest example is Canada, which has celebrated Thanksgiving on the second Monday in October since 1957. As one version goes, the tradition dates back to 1578 when an expedition led by Martin Frobisher toasted to a safe passage. In 1879—just 12 years after the formation of Canada as a dominion within the British Empire—the Canadian Parliament established a national Thanksgiving Day.

Other countries with a national Thanksgiving Day include Brazil, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Liberia. And the Australian external territory of Norfolk Island continues to participate after being introduced to the concept by American whaling ships.

 

So what is Thanksgiving for? A day off. Spending time with family and tiptoeing around politics. Football. And eating excessively.