So as you gather around the table with your loved ones, we hope you have plenty of reasons to give thanks and you take that gratitude with you for the rest of the year. To finish this post, then, let’s look at a Thanksgiving Day poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox: Like many holidays, Thanksgiving has inspired a lot of literature. Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter! A Thanksgiving Day Poem The origins of the term are simple enough: “thanksgiving” is a compound noun made up of the words “thanks” and “giving.” But what might be surprising is that the word was first used in the 1530s, more than a hundred years before the Pilgrim’s first “thanksgiving.” By contrast, the first recorded uses of Thanksgiving Day as a proper noun come from the 1670s. We offer a prayer in thanksgiving for this bountiful harvest. Typically, it was used in religious contexts: However, the term itself is an old-fashioned common noun that doesn’t require capitalization. This is also why we typically capitalize the term Thanksgiving Day. Whenever the word “Thanksgiving” comes to mind, we almost always associate it with the national holiday, which is a proper noun. And we eat a lot, which does mean modern Thanksgiving shares something with the harvest festivals of the past!īut what about the word “thanksgiving”? Where does it come from? And when was it first applied to the holiday? Let’s take a look. On November 28, he ordered all governmental departments to close as a day of thanksgiving for “general blessings.” This aligns with what most Americans do with their loved ones on Thanksgiving Day: we give thanks for all our blessings, including one another. In truth, the Thanksgiving Americans celebrate today is more closely linked to something President Abraham Lincoln declared in 1861. And while some Native American tribes later formed alliances with settlers, many fought with the English, who subjected them to tremendous bloodshed and often drove tribes from their ancestral lands. However, the peace between the Pilgrims and the Native Americans did not last. This scene is commonly referenced when Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. The first “Thanksgiving,” as imagined by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris 300 years later. As such, they gathered to give praise and thanksgiving to God, along with 90 Native American Indians, who had helped the settlers survive their first winter. In 1621, these settlers had their first successful harvest from the land. After landing at Plymouth, Massachusetts, they settled on land formerly inhabited by the Patuxet Indians. The story of Thanksgiving Day goes back to the first Pilgrims (or English settlers) in America. But when did the holiday begin? And why do we capitalize “Thanksgiving”? Grab a plate, pull up a seat, and let’s dig into the history, and etymology, of Thanksgiving Day.

It is a time of turkey, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and love. A Short (Etymological) History of Thanksgiving DayĮvery year, on the fourth Thursday in November, Americans gather around the table to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Origin of thanksgiving