While many people associate Thanksgiving primarily with the United States, the tradition of celebrating the harvest and expressing gratitude is shared across various cultures worldwide.
The national Thanksgiving holiday has its historical origins in the 19th century, with Sarah Josepha Hale’s campaign advocating for its establishment, and President Abraham Lincoln’s declaration in November 1863 amidst the Civil War, emphasizing themes of gratitude and unity.
Some Native Americans observe Thanksgiving as a National Day of Mourning, a national day of protest and remembrance highlighting historical injustices and the struggles endured by Indigenous peoples.
The first Thanksgiving, celebrated in 1621 by the Pilgrims and Native Americans, holds significant historical importance and sets the stage for understanding how other nations celebrate similar festivals.
The American Thanksgiving Story
Historical Origins of the First Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving began in 1621 when Pilgrims and the Native Americans gathered in Plymouth, Massachusetts, for a harvest feast. It was the first Thanksgiving in commemoration of the successful harvest by the Pilgrims in the New World. The Pilgrims survived their winter by learning from the Native Americans, especially the Wampanoag, about Indian corn and several other local crops. Four men went fowling, which yielded a much larger catch for the food of the colony, and also included in the harvest for that year. The Wampanoag helped the Pilgrims hunt and, as a result, settlers flourished in such hostile conditions.
Why Americans Celebrate: The Thanksgiving Day Parade
- Historical Commemoration
The deep-rooted historical and traditional reasons have led to Americans celebrating Thanksgiving today. Thanksgiving Day happens to fall on the fourth Thursday of November, according to the tradition laid by President Abraham Lincoln. The Pilgrims planned a meeting in ‘a special manner to rejoice’ over their prosperous harvest. Thanksgiving Day truly remembers the coming together of the Pilgrims and Native Americans; it honors Pilgrims who survived tremendous winters and faced many other adversities once reaching the New England colonies.
- Cultural Significance
In the present day, Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the holiday season in the United States and is a day to reflect on both personal and collective blessings. It is also a celebration of the agricultural traditions that date back to the early settlers’ harvest festivals.
- Modern Traditions
Modern Thanksgiving celebrations are all characterized by different traditions. Most people begin such a day by preparing to enjoy the traditional Thanksgiving meal, which often consists of turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, and other seasonal foods symbolizing the bounty of the fall harvest.
Aside from the feast, many families make it a point to go out and watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York with its marching bands, huge floats, and cartoon characters entertaining millions across the country. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is one of the major historical events, inaugurated in 1924, which attracts huge crowds, illuminated by its large floats and performers and with its world-famous giant balloons, it is one of the favorite traditions for most people during the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. Football games are another important matter of the day as most Americans like watching the Thanksgiving Day games.
The Thanksgiving day parade is therefore one of the most stereotyped features of American Thanksgiving hordes and hordes of Americans parading behind marching bands and balloon characters, filling the air with their voices in the joyous atmosphere.
Thanksgiving and Harvest Festivals Around the World
Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday in October, which is one week earlier than American Thanksgiving mainly because Canada harvests early. Thanksgiving is similar to what Americans celebrate, with family gatherings where most of the time festive Thanksgiving meals will consist of turkey and some other seasonal produce.
Germany
Erntedankfest or Harvest Festival is a harvest celebration held in Germany in early October. It is a cherished occasion in the calendar, with church services, including the harvesting crown processions of general celebration, and has festive fun as well. Most parades also feature a regal harvest queen in rural communities: there is a display of harvested produce in the villages and towns.
China
Xi Yue Jie is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, which usually falls in September or October, with a name equivalent to Moon Festival. As it revolves around the harvest moon, it is celebrated for the reunion of family members and giving thanks for the plentiful harvest.
Korea
In Korea, this festival is celebrated for three days a year, and it is one of the very important national holidays. This harvest festival is celebrated in various ways, including cooking all sorts of traditional food, such as songpyeon which are rice cakes made with sweet filling and an offering to the ancestors through memorial services.
Vietnam
Tết Trung Thu, or the Mid-Autumn Festival, is celebrated in Vietnam, sharing the same roots and inspiration as the Moon Festival in China. Lantern processions worship to the moon, and mooncakes with various offerings of fruits are some of the activities in the celebration.
Japan
Labor Thanksgiving Day (Kinrō Kansha no Hi) in Japan, celebrated on November 23, evolved from the ancient Niinamesai harvest festival, which honored the harvest and celebrated the Emperor’s labor. Today, the holiday focuses on honoring labor rights, production, and public service.
The Netherlands
Thanksgiving Day is not a big national holiday in the Netherlands, but it is celebrated in Leiden, where Pilgrims lived before sailing to the New World. The Thanksgiving service at Pieterskerk church is for those who want to observe the Pilgrims’ departure from the Netherlands.
Ghana
The Homowo Festival is a traditional harvest festival celebrated by the Ga people of Ghana. The name of the festival, which means hooting at hunger, signifies the end of a historic famine.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the Harvest Festival is celebrated around the time of the harvest moon, usually in September. Schools and churches hold special services that often involve food donations for those in need.
Common Themes Across Global Celebrations: The Thanksgiving Meal
Despite cultural differences, harvest festivals worldwide share common elements:
- Gratitude: Thanksgiving is most certainly about gratitude; and, much like other harvest festivities, conveys the expression of gratitude for the thrice-harvest, be it the Indian corn or seasonal crop. The first Thanksgiving in 1621, which became the tone for this Thanksgiving story fit into one of the first harvest meals by Pilgrims and Native Americans intended to be one of mutuality and thanks for survival. Today, people are also giving thanks to their families, community, and nature’s gifts like turkey, pumpkin pie, and cranberry sauce.
- Community: Gathered for a festivity is family. A shared meal is one of its features it is Thanksgiving dinner in the U.S.; maybe it is one of many harvest feasts around the world. What distinguishes this is the importance of community and being together. It also deals with most community service acts instead of giving away food, like taking care of those in need, a tradition passed down from the Pilgrims who relied upon the Wampanoag tribe.
- Tradition: These festivals are further steeped in tradition, with signature foods like turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. Such cultural manifestations include the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with marching bands and balloon characters on the one hand and religious observances like prayers of thanks on the other. Whether Erntedankfest in Germany or Chuseok in Korea, harvest festivals unite mankind through the ages-old customs. Thanksgiving Day in the United States is celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November, a tradition initiated by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 and later modified by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939.
Conclusion
Though it may be that the American Thanksgiving is an event of unique history and traditions, setting aside the time for Thanksgiving proclamation and harvesting is something universal.
Whether they are called Thanksgiving, harvest festivals, or autumn celebrations, such celebrations remind us of our relation to the earth and our dependence on each other.
On a national scale, a holiday in honor of thanksgiving was championed through the tireless efforts of Sarah Josepha Hale and proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, underpinning the role of thankfulness and togetherness in American culture.