Hi I'm Australian and am curious about thanks giving?

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They call me ... Trixie.

Celebrated the fourth Thursday in November. Traditional meal is turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes or yams, cranberry sauce, green onion casserole, pumpkin pie ... the list goes on and on. Some people prefer ham to turkey, or goose, but everyone has different traditions.

From Wikipedia:

Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a traditional North American holiday to give thanks at the conclusion of the harvest season. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States and on the second Monday of October in Canada.

The early settlers of Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts were particularly grateful to Squanto, the Native American and former British slave who taught them how to both catch eel and grow corn and also served as their native interpreter. Without Squanto's assistance, the settlers might not have survived in the New World.

The Plymouth settlers (who came to be called "Pilgrims") set apart a holiday immediately after their first harvest in 1621. They held an autumn celebration of food, feasting, and praising God. The Governor of Plymouth invited Grand Sachem Massasoit and the Wampanoag people to join them in the feast. Evidence to support that claim came from diaries of Plymouth. The settlers fed and entertained the Native Americans for three days, at which point some of the Native Americans went into the forest, killed 5 deer, and gave them to the Governor as a gift.

In 1789 Washington designated a national thanksgiving holiday for the newly ratified Constitution, specifically so that the people may thank God for "affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness" and for having "been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed... "

The first official Thanksgiving Proclamation made in America was issued by the Continental Congress in 1777. Six national Proclamations of Thanksgiving were issued in the first thirty years after the founding of the United States of America as an independent federation of States. President George Washington issued two, President John Adams issued two, President Thomas Jefferson made none and President James Madison issued two. After 1815 there were no more Thanksgiving Proclamations until the Presidency of Lincoln, who made two during the Civil War.

President Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a Federal holiday as a "prayerful day of Thanksgiving" on the last Thursday in November. Since then every U.S. President has always made an official Thanksgiving Proclamation on behalf of the nation. President Franklin D. Roosevelt set the date for Thanksgiving to the fourth Thursday of November in 1939 (approved by Congress in 1941).

papabear098

Thanksgiving day as far as I know is celebrated in the U,S and maybe Canada.We give thanks for what we all have in our lives. Back when it first started the pilgrims or colonist were straving and the American I Indians showed the pilgrims how to grow corn and other veggies. So on Nov 27 the pilgrims and the Indians had a great feast and sat down and became better friends and that is how it got stated. Hope this helps. By the way Happy Thanksgiving

It's just a reason to over eat and drink lots of beer. VIVA AMERICA!

Logic

Well, technically it was a time when pilgrims and native americans united for a feast, I think, but ..yeah ..it's just based on "Giving thanks".

enrique7718

its an americas (us and canada)thing and we are off from work that thursday and friday... so we have a 4 day weekend and we have dinner with the entire family.
we then pray that no one is left without food and give thanks to those who gave us what we have. dinner consists of turkey (we inject cajun marinade and fry the bird), dressing, corn bread, rolls, ham, and all sorts of desserts. it has been a traditions since the wampanoag tribe and american colonists shared their "autumn feast"

eek

Canadians have their own version in October. Thanksgiving is a type of harvest festival. Originally it was a religious observance... now it combines elements Octoberfest, too.

Basically it centers around family and friends and a big meal. At one time it marked the beginning of the Christmas "shopping" season, too. However Christmas things were out this year before Halloween.

My town has a parade the Saturday before Thanksgiving. This starts a 6 week period of overeating and parties that end on January 1st with every one "resolving" to go on a diet and exercise. :)

Mz.Yananboo

I'm not sure if just Americans do it but it happens in America on November 22 and what most people do is gather with their families and eat a lot of food and talk and bond..

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