A national holiday that is celebrated on different dates in Canada, the US and Liberia is known as Thanksgiving Day. This day was originated as a day of giving thanks and sacrifice of the blessings of harvest and for the rest of the year. Similar festival holidays also occur in Japan and Germany. There are also some historical roots of this essential day with some religious and cultural beliefs. For some time, it was also celebrated as a secular day. Here, we will discuss the similarities and differences of Thanksgiving Day in Canada and the United States.
1) Origins and significance
In Canada, Thanksgiving Day was purely originated as a harvest festival. In 1957, the Canadian parliament proclaimed that they will celebrate a day as a thanksgiving day to the Allah Almighty who has blessed them with a bountiful harvest. For this reason, they decided that they will observe this day on the second Monday in October. The first host of the Canadian Thanksgiving Day was great explorer Martin Frobisher. Anyhow, the first Thanksgiving Day was celebrated in Canada in 1578. On the other hand, this day was added to the celebrations of the US by the United Empire Loyalties during the time of the American Revolution. That’s why the first Thanksgiving Day was celebrated in America after 43 years in 1621. After celebrating this day, they found that they were able to get more crops for the coming year. Therefore, they had also added this day to their celebrations.
2) Date of Thanksgiving Day
There are different dates of celebrating Thanksgiving Day both in Canada and the US. In the US, before the mid of the 20th century, this day was celebrated on different dates. On December 26, 1941, the president of America signed on a bill and he had fixed a date for the celebrations of Thanksgiving Day. He declared that they will celebrate Thanksgiving Day on the 4th Thursday in November. On this day, there will be a holiday. There is also a holiday after Thanksgiving Day. Therefore, Thanksgiving Day is a four day weekend for US residents. Like the US, Thanksgiving Day was also celebrated on different dates before 1957. On November 6, 1957, the Canadian parliament has also decided to celebrate Thanksgiving Day on the second Monday of October. Therefore, there is a three day weekend on Thanksgiving Day.
3) Travel and family
As we have discussed earlier that Thanksgiving Day provides four days of holidays for the US residents and three days weekend for the Canadians. Therefore, it is a great time for both nations to celebrate this day with their families. For this reason, they also try to travel from one place to another place in order to meet with their family members and friends. In the US, Thanksgiving Day is known as the busiest day for travelling. On the other hand, in Canada, most people go out in order to spend three days weekend.
4) Thanksgiving meal
As we have discussed earlier that Thanksgiving Day is the basic tradition of the Canadians and it is moved from Canada to the US. Therefore, most of the customs and traditions at the time of Thanksgiving Day are similar in both nations. Therefore, the traditional dish at the time of Thanksgiving Day in the US is known as Turkey. That’s why Thanksgiving Day is also called Turkey Day. The main difference between these two countries is that US residents eat Thanksgiving meal on Thursday. On the other hand, Canadians eat Thanksgiving meal on Monday.
5) Shopping
In the US, the day after Thanksgiving Day is characterized as a heavy shopping day. Its reason is that there is a public holiday after Thanksgiving Day and almost all the retailers offer some discounts. Therefore, the Americans line up on the shopping malls in order to buy different kinds of things. For this reason, the retailers open their shops very early in the morning and these shops remained opened late in the night. This day is also called Black Friday. Its reason is that on this day, retailers earn profit from red to black for the whole year. The Monday after Thanksgiving Day is called the ‘Cyber Monday”. Its reason is that on this Monday, heavy online shopping is done by the people.
Along with these things, we also observe some parades on Thanksgiving Day. In the US, these parades are done on a large scale. On the other hand, in Canada, these parades are done on a small scale.
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