Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Thanksgiving holiday in the US

Thanksgiving Day originated as a harvest festival celebrated primarily in Canada and the United States. Traditionally, it was a time to give thanks for the harvest. In present-day non-agricultural societies it is thought to be an appropriate time to reflect on good fortune (which makes it difficult for many people in 2009 who have been hurt by the economic recession). While perhaps religious in origin, Thanksgiving is now primarily identified as a secular holiday.

Today, Thanksgiving is a national holiday on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States.

Many Americans mark the day with a Thanksgiving dinner featuring foods native to the Americas (turkey, potatoes, cranberries, corn bread, and pumpkin pie). The meal is usually served at a gathering of family members and friends. In many homes the meal is followed by afternoons in front of televisions watching football games (primarily between college teams).

Based on the Wikipedia account of Thanksgiving

What's Cooking on Thanksgiving

An interactive map from the New York Times showing the Top 50 Search Terms on Allrecipies.com yesterday. The map shows what parts of the US searched for which recipies. You can find out where peanut butter pie is most popular.

1 Comments:

At 9:04 AM, Blogger Ken Wedding said...

A Native American view on Thanksgiving: It's a verb

"For the many Native nations that lived in ancient times throughout the Great Lakes region of the now United States Thanksgiving was a verb, not a noun. It was not a holiday. It was an action that brought families and communities together in thanks for continued life in an environment that embraced with rich abundance and at the same time killed under the fierce domination of nature..."

 

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