5 Important Facts you need to know about the US Thanksgiving

Every year in November, the famous Thanksgiving holiday takes place in North America. It is a national holiday to celebrate the harvest of the year when families come together for a huge feast lunch. Before that, it was more of a religious feast which thanked God for having brought the Pilgrim Fathers to the New World and for the good understanding with the indigenous

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York has been scaled back significantly [Andrew Kelly/Reuters]

populations. In the United States, Thanksgiving took place this year on Thursday, November 26. This is an opportunity to review 5 elements that characterize Thanksgiving around the world.

1 . Thanksgiving: giving thanks

Whether the holiday is celebrated in a secular or religious way, Thanksgiving is all about giving thanks. In North America , Thanksgiving was first religious. The feast was born when the Pilgrim Fathers from Europe arrived in the New World in 1620 to found the colony of Plymouth in present-day Massachusetts . Unfortunately for this group of English dissidents, the beginnings were difficult and half of them died of hunger. The Wampanoags , a Native American people, saved them by offering them food. This is where Thanksgiving was born. The first was celebrated in the fall of 1621to celebrate the success of the first harvest and to thank the natives for help . During this first celebration, the leader of the Wampanoags and 91 of his men were invited to share the dishes.
The celebration is now secular in North America. The Americans continue to thank the harvest through this festival, but it is mainly a question of getting together to enjoy a feast based mainly on a stuffed turkey and potatoes.

2 .  The official Thanksgiving Day proclamation

But how was Thanksgiving really born officially ? In the United States , the first national proclamation was given in 1777 by the Continental Congress . It was then the first President of the United States, George Washington who officially proclaimed Thanksgiving Day on October 3, 1789 in order to “recognize the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his blessings, and humbly implore his protection and favor ” . The president sets the date for the first Thursday after the 26th day of November. Throughout the mandates, the date of Thanksgiving Dayhas been modified until Abraham Lincoln . During the Civil War , Thanksgiving was celebrated on the last Thursday of November 1863 . Since this year, the festival is celebrated annually to this day in the United States.
In Canada , Thanksgiving has been officially proclaimed as a national holiday since November 6, 1879 . As with their neighbors, the date was never really fixed until January 31, 1957 when the Governor General of Canada, Vincent Massey proclaimed that the day would be the second Monday in October. Since then, Canada celebrates Thanksgiving - the thanksgiving to date.

3 . Thanksgiving meal

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Most important in Thanksgiving is the given meal that brings families together. The Thanksgiving dinner focuses on stuffed turkey either the United States or Canada. This day is also colloquially called “The Day of the Turkey” . One third of all turkey consumption takes place between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Most of these turkeys are stuffed with a mixture of bread before they are roasted. The meal requires a lot of preparation because the roast turkey needs at least 12 hours of preparation and waiting as well as 4 hours of cooking. Turkeys are often prepared the day before so that they have time to rest. Other meats can be served such as goose and duck.
The sides are so numerous and consistent that the Thanksgiving dinner actually often starts in the early afternoon to have time to taste everything. To accompany turkey and other meats, Americans love potato- based dishes like mash and cranberry sauce . Of corn and green beans may also be present on the table. To stay hydrated, drinks depend on the accompaniments served. It is customary for Americans to drink wine as well as other alcoholic drinks or cocktails as well as iced tea .
These dish ideas come from the first Thanksgiving menu in 1621. The turkey became the star of the day from 1857 in New England . This American icon subsequently spread across North America.

4 . Thanksgiving around the world

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In addition to North America, Thanksgiving is celebrated elsewhere in the world. In South America , the holiday is celebrated in Brazil , Grenada and Saint Lucia . In Brazil, Law 5110 created Thanksgiving which is held on the fourth Thursday of November as in the United States. In Granada, the holiday is celebrated on October 25. For this island, this day marks the day the United States invaded Grenada on October 25, 1983. In Saint Lucia, Thanksgiving is held on the first Monday in October.
To celebrate the holiday in West Africa , Liberia celebrates the American Colonization Society founded in 1816 by the African-Americans free on the first Thursday in November.
The Philippines in Asia also celebrate Thanksgiving on the same day as Americans. The tradition began when Filipinos and Americans secretly celebrated Thanksgiving during the Japanese occupation during World War II.
Thanksgiving then took root in Australia and more particularly on Norfolk Island , an Australian territory. Celebrated the day before or six days before American Day, that is, the last Wednesday in November, the tradition was brought to the island after the visit of American boats that came to fish for whales.
Finally, Europe also knows Thanksgiving with the Netherlands following the presence of Pilgrim Fathers in the city of Leiden . On the morning of the traditional American Thanksgiving, the day is celebrated at Pieterskerk , the Gothic church in Leiden.
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The American tradition was then anchored all over the world and it influenced populations across the Atlantic.

5. A celebration called into question

The version of the English who would have shared their meal with the natives is often erroneous. In fact, it was the day after the massacre of the Pequot people by the pilgrims that this feast was born to celebrate their victory. The birth of this national day through a massacre of an Amerindian people now arouses resentment among Native Americans .
The American version of the Pilgrim Fathers is indeed idealized by Americans. According to writer Benjamin Whitmer and historians, the story told is false. An English merchant was reportedly killed and the Pilgrims then decided the Pequot tribe was at fault. The Pequot War then began in the fall of 1637 . Their main village was destroyed and their members were exterminated. The day after the Pilgrim's proclaimed victory, then Governor William Bradford proclaimed that this day will be made to celebrate that victory.
This new historical knowledge created a real rejection of this celebration for Native American groups in North America. For them, this holiday celebrates the beginning of endless massacres and wars causing the destruction of their people. Since 1970, demonstrations are often organized in homage to the Amerindians .

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