What is the history of Canadian Thanksgiving Day ?
The history of Canadian Thanksgiving Day can be divided into two periods, the period before Canada became a country and the period after Canada became a country, that is: (1) Pre-Confederation Canadian Thanksgiving celebrations, and (2) Post-Confederation Canadian Thanksgiving Day celebrations.
Pre-Confederation Story of Canadian Thanksgiving Celebrations
Prior to 1867, when Canada became a country, the origin and history of Thanksgiving in Canada was divided into two periods: (1) Pre-Legislative Canadian Thanksgiving celebrations; and (2) Post-Legislative Canadian Thanksgiving celebrations.
Canadian Thanksgiving Prior To Its Legislation
Prior to the first proclamation of a Canadian Thanksgiving Day by legislation in 1799, the origin of Canadian Thanksgiving Day was based on three European traditions, two of which were directly descended from European traditions and the other which indirectly came from Europe via the Thanksgiving traditions celebrated by the English colonists in what was to be the United States.
The three European traditions in which Canadian Thanksgiving has its roots are as follows: (1) the formal celebrations which mark an important event; (2) the harvest celebrations which commemorate the end of the harvest season and the gaining of a good harvest crop and the resulting abundance of food, which have been celebrated for millenia in European cultures; and (3) the first Thanksgiving to combine feasting, prayers, and blessings in what was to be the United States which was held at Plymouth, Massachusetts. The American Thanksgiving traditions eventually spread to Nova Scotia in the 1750's in addition to the migration of United Empire Loyalists - persons who were loyal to Great Britain - to Canada just before and after the Thirteen colonies became independent as the United States in 1776.
Based on these three traditions, we come to the following question:
When was the first Canadian Thanksgiving ?
The first Canadian Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1578, which was 41 years prior to the first Thanksgiving at Berkeley Plantation, Virginia in 1619 and 43 years prior to the first Thanksgiving that combined a feast with prayers and blessings at Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621 in what was later to be the United States.
On May 31, 1578, Sir Martin Frobisher (circa 1535 - 1594), in his quest to locate the Spice Islands in the Orient by first locating and sailing through the Northwest Passage, which is a sea route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through the Canadian Arctic archipelago, left Harwich, England with 15 vessels and sailed first to Greenland and then to North America where he came upon Baffin Island, just north of Newfoundland. He then sailed his ships to Newfoundland and arrived there in August of 1578. He then held a formal ceremony to give thanks to God for enabling his men to survive the long and difficult journey from England. Although this was not a harvest celebration or a feast in the sense of a Thanksgiving feast as we know it today, since the food and drink were from the ships's vessels, the formal act of giving thanks qualified this ceremony as a Thanksgiving ceremony. There are those, however, who dispute that this event took place in Newfoundland, but whether or not it took place in Newfoundland or Baffin Island, both areas are currently located in Canada and so the ceremony performed by Frobisher to give thanks to God for surviving the cross-Atlantic journey still qualifies as being the first Canadian Thanksgiving as well as being the first Thanksgiving in North America, despite its rudimentary nature when compared with Thanksgiving as we know it today.
European farmers had a longstanding tradition to celebrate a harvest festival in autumn in commemoration of a good harvest crop and the gaining of an abundance of food from those crops. They had a tradition of filling a curve-shaped goat's horn with fruit and grains to symbolize the good harvest. It is also a decorative motif, originating in ancient Greece, that symbolizes abundance. This curved-goat's horn filled with the fruit and grains was known as a "cornucopia" (pronounced: korn-yoo-KO-pee-uh) or "horn of good plenty". When these farmers emigrated to was to be known as Canada and the United States from the 17th century onward, they brought the tradition of the cornucopia with them, and this custom had an influence in the Thanksgiving celebrations in North America, particularly in the Canadian Thanksgiving celebrations.
Canadian Thanksgiving celebrations prior to when it was first legislated in 1799 were celebrated at different times of the year, usually in order to mark a military victory or the birth of royal children.
A Canadian Thanksgiving in the sense of being grateful for a military victory was next recorded in 1710, when records at Port Royal, Nova Scotia, note an October 10th thanksgiving celebration to mark the return of the town to the English after they defeated the French. The day before, on October 9th, a Thanksgiving service was held at the garrison of Annapolis Royal, formerly known as Porte-Royale. During French control of the French colony known as Acadia (a colonial territory which included parts of eastern Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and modern-day New England, stretching as far south as Philadelphia), Porte-Royale was the capital of Acadia. After the British captured Porte-Royale from the French in 1710, Porte-Royale was renamed Annapolis Royal, in honour of the Queen of England at that time, Queen Anne, and was the last time that the French had control of the land. Acadia was formally ceded to the British in the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713. The Canadian Thanksgiving of October 10th, 1710 was a celebration of gratitude by the British for a military victory that marked the transfer of Porte-Royale to the British.
In the 1750's, American settlers from the southern part of what was soon to be the United States began moving to Canada and brought their Thanksgiving customs concerning the celebration of the harvest to Nova Scotia, which in turn were derived from the first Thanksgiving feast that was held by the Pilgrims at Plymouth, Massachusetts in the fall of 1621.
In 1760, a Thanksgiving celebration was held by the citizens of Halifax, Nova Scotia to mark the victory of General Jeffrey Amherst's troops at Montreal.
In 1762, the Scottish settlers of Halifax, Nova Scotia were the first settlers in Canada to emphasize the religious aspects of holding a Thanksgiving day celebration, and so they held the first Canadian Thanksgiving celebration to give thanks through prayers and blessings for a bountiful harvest.
The following year, in 1763, the residents of Halifax, Nova Scotia held a Canadian Thanksgiving feast to celebrate the end of the Seven Years' War, considered to be the first real world war in that it involved many European colonial powers who were vying for control of each other's territory. This Thanksgiving celebration was reported to be a great success.
As United Empire Loyalists - those that were loyal to Great Britain - began leaving the Thirteen Colonies just prior to the American Revolution and subsequently, the newly-formed United States of America in 1776 and emigrated to all areas of Canada, they also brought the customs of the American Thanksgiving celebration with them such as the eating of turkey, pumpkin, and squash, thus spreading these Thanksgiving customs across Canada.
In the 1600's, French explorers to what is now Canada brought settlers with them to what is now Nova Scotia, and one particular passenger in one expedition, led by merchant venturer Pierre Du Gua, Sieur de Monts, was the geographer and cartographer Samuel de Champlain, who devised his own version of a Thanksgiving celebration, a type of Thanksgiving celebration that he called "L'Ordre de Bon Temps" in French, which in English means "The Order of Good Cheer", which was essentially a type of Thanksgiving celebration in the sense that the French settlers were grateful for the community meal that was served to them on a regular basis during the harsh winter of 1606-1607, which raised their spirits and improved their health. To read about the ingenious community meal that was created by Samuel de Champlain, just click on the following link: The Order of Good Cheer.
This takes us to 1799, when the first legislative ruling for a Canadian Thanksgiving day was enacted by the legislative assembly of Lower Canada. Since that time, many legislative rulings were enacted concerning holding a Canadian Thanksgiving day. The latest piece of legislation regarding when and why a Canadian Thanksgiving Day was to be held took place on January 31, 1957, when the second Monday in October was permanently proclaimed and fixed by the Canadian Parliament as the day for the annual Canadian Thanksgiving Day, and this has been the case to this day since that legislation was enacted. For a list and chronology / timeline of all the legislative rulings by the various legislative bodies that have existed in pre- and post-Confederation Canada concerning the Canadian Thanksgiving Day, just click the following link:
History of Thanksgiving Day in Canada.
Post-Confederation Story of Canadian Thanksgiving Celebrations
According to the Department of Heritage of the Government of Canada, the first Thanksgiving Day in Canada after Confederation in 1867 was observed on April 15, 1872, to celebrate the recovery of The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) from a serious illness. The Department of Heritage of the Canadian government also states that no record has ever been found of a Thanksgiving Day between 1872 and 1879 (Source: http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/jfa-ha/action_e.cfm). Since that time, the Canadian Thanksgiving date has changed many times. From 1879 to 1898, both inclusive, it was observed on a Thursday in November. From 1899 to 1907, both inclusive, the date for the Canadian Thanksgiving was fixed on a Thursday in October. The exceptions to this were the years 1901 and 1904, when the date was fixed on a Thursday in November. From 1908 to 1921, Canadian Thanksgiving was observed on a Monday in October, the exact date being appointed by proclamation. From 1921 to 1930, the Armistice Day Act stated that Thanksgiving Day in Canada would be observed on Armistice Day, which was fixed by statute on the Monday of the week in which November 11th fell. However, in 1931, the Canadian Parliament adopted an Act to amend the Armistice Day Act, stating that the day should be observed on November 11th and that the day should be known as "Remembrance Day" ("Veterans Day" in the United States). At the same time, the old practise of fixing Thanksgiving Day in Canada by proclamation was resumed, and since 1931, Canadian Thanksgiving Day has been on the second Monday of October. The only exception to this was in 1935, when, after the date for Thanksgiving Day had been fixed on October 14th, it was decided that a federal general election was to be held on that date. The Canadian Parliament then issued a new proclamation that stated that Thanksgiving Day was to be deferred to October 24th, which was a Thursday. However, this decision resulted in a great deal of controversy. As a result, it was decided that in the future, Thanksgiving Day would not be held on a Thursday. From From 1936 to 1956, both inclusive, an annual proclamation was issued by the Canadian Parliament which appointed the second Monday in October as Thanksgiving Day. Finally, on January 31, 1957, the Canadian Parliament decided to permanently fix the Canadian Thanksgiving Day on the second Monday in October, which eliminated the necessity of performing an annual proclamation for Thanksgiving Day in Canada. To this day, the second Monday in October has been the date for celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving Day.
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