Explain Thanksgiving, in detail, to an Aussie.
- Thread starter StBishop
- Start date
FailMr.Black said:
Umm, well, yeah we give thanks to our God. Its different from christmas because christmas is celebrating Jesus's birth. We also, kinda, give thanks that we live in this country because of the whole native americans helping the early settlers, but I'm not really sure that even happened. Well, yeah, we're just giving thanks to our god.
Purely american. It's to give thanks to the native americans for helping the pilgrims, I think thats what it is, so it's not religious.
But heres the thing you need to know:
WHO CARES! YOU GET TO EAT FOOD!
But heres the thing you need to know:
WHO CARES! YOU GET TO EAT FOOD!
The pilgrams made peace with the native Americans ("Indians") and had a feast with them. Then for the next 300 years or so we threw them off their land and killed them.
But as a real definition: one of our presidents (Lincoln?) wanted to help the economy so he made Thanksgiving a better holiday and started the turkey thing.
But as a real definition: one of our presidents (Lincoln?) wanted to help the economy so he made Thanksgiving a better holiday and started the turkey thing.
Around my part of the USA it is perceived as a reason to go hunting and eat food in an unhealthy amount. So it's pretty much just like the average day for most people around here.StBishop said:
The point of Thanksgiving has been all but lost on most, which granted, makes sense. If we bring up the point that it was celebrating us working together with the Native Americans to survive in this new land someone will inevitably bring up the small pox blankets and that is just a downer.
It's also receiving new meaning as a "prepare for the shopping we are going to do tomorrow" holiday. I don't know if you have anything like it in Australia, but the day after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday and everything is really cheap pretty much everywhere. So people funnel into stores trying to buy all they can to prepare for the holiday season. a lot of people get trampled and there are a startling number of deaths linked to Black Friday, so I suppose you could call Thanksgiving the "Your last meal" holiday.
from what i know (i don't) they celebrate that they beat the crap out of indians... or something.
no dunno really
no dunno really
1. A harvest festival started by the pilgrims to thank God they survived the winterStBishop said:
2. Though originally based on thanking God, its more about eating food and family get togethers
3. Because its an "American Only" holiday, while the others are almost universal
4. Eat, talk with family, and other things like that
I hope this answers your question
It's the day we eat then the next day we get up @ 2 am to kill employees of stores...for cheaper then usual shit for ingrates of our families...and the day you can pretty much start the Xmas music
*insert historical droning here*
*insert historical droning here*
One notable difference is that Thanksgiving is much more directly about bringing extended family together. Christmas is a family holiday, too, but most people desire to spend it at home; in contrast, for many families, American Thanksgivings serves the purpose of bringing all the relatives you only see once or twice a year together in one place (and ensures that you are, at least, seeing them once a year) -- that's why there's such a travel mess around Thanksgiving.StBishop said:
Commercially, Thanksigiving sorta kickstarts the canonical "holiday season", with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to remind you of all the cartoon characters your kids will want toys of during the holiday and massive "Black Friday" sales right after it.
-- Alex
I have heard this before, I was just using the genral idea that christmas was about jesus birth. Your right, its actually a pagan holiday, like most modern holidays. Hell, even the days of the week are pagan. Isn't this a discussion for another time, though? and wasn't this supposed to be more about what we thought it was and rather than what it actually is?Nicragomi said:
I'm English, I've never studied American history but I'm gonna take a stab at this based purely on media I've seen.
The people who settled in America were finding it very difficult to survive, what without proper townships and with such unusual (to them at the time) living conditions. The indigenous peoples helped out by sacrificing their own food, warmth and general aide... ya know, like good people would.
So the Americans are saying thanks very much, without this aide we probably wouldn't have made it.
It's around November, nowish... possibly this weekend, it's now because November being winter was likely when it was starting to get bad for settlers in the old west and when the aide started.
It's not religious.
Now I shall read the thread and links to see how close I am.
The people who settled in America were finding it very difficult to survive, what without proper townships and with such unusual (to them at the time) living conditions. The indigenous peoples helped out by sacrificing their own food, warmth and general aide... ya know, like good people would.
So the Americans are saying thanks very much, without this aide we probably wouldn't have made it.
It's around November, nowish... possibly this weekend, it's now because November being winter was likely when it was starting to get bad for settlers in the old west and when the aide started.
It's not religious.
Now I shall read the thread and links to see how close I am.
Traditionally, Americans are giving thanks for, basically, what they have. The first one was celebrated in Plymouth in 1621 or so when colonists had finally managed to not die thanks to the Native Americans and such. It did not become a national tradition until New York made it a custom in 1817 or something like that--and everyone else jumped on. Now, it has really became a day when everyone and anyone in, primarily America and [our brother] Canada gives thanks for what we have.StBishop said:
Technically, it is not religious holiday--it might have been back in the day because to be religious was to be human back then--but now it is considered secular.
In Canada, Thanksgiving is the fist Monday, I think, in October. In America, it is the fourth Thursday of November.
Christmas (Christian) and Hanukkah (Jewish) are celebrating the Christian Jesus or Christian/Jewish God (they are the same; it's the Jesus thing where they split off); it is a holiday time centered around giving and selflessness and such--but it has clearly religious connotations, unlike Thanksgiving. (And yes, yes, I am well-aware that Christmas evolved from a Pagan holiday; but OP is asking about modern Christmas, not the history of Christmas.)
Thanksgiving is a blessing to people who adore their families because they have an excuse to go and see them. For people who don't get along with their families, it is like pulling teeth. You eat a meal together, talk a long time, watch football if its on and, if you are particularly masochistic, you go to the mall on Black Friday for the huge sales that kick off the Christmas shopping season the day after Thanksgiving. People also get days off of school and work. In America, we traditionally eat turkey--though ham is also common. My grandfather and cousins will often also go hunting early in the morning on Thanksgiving. The cornucopia is not, historically, an American/Canadian thing. It has been around for a long, long time (like, traced back to Ancient Rome, long time ago) and is a symbol of abundance--it's used everywhere, not just in North America.
And, no--not just an American thing. The Canadians do it too, though given that I am never in Canada around that time of year--I cannot say what they might do for it.
