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Americans believe that their Thanksgiving is modeled on a 1621 harvest feast shared by the English colonists (Pilgrims) of Plymouth and the Wampanoag people.
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The new U.S. Congress left Thanksgiving declarations to the states; Some objected to the national government's involvement in a religious observance, Southerners were slow to adopt New England custom, and others took offense over the day being used to hold partisan speeches and parades. A national Thanksgiving Day seemed more like a lightning rod for controversy than a unifying force.
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On October 3, 1863, during the Civil War, Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving to be celebrated on Thursday, November 26.
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after a joint resolution of Congress in 1941, Roosevelt issued a proclamation in 1942 designating the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.
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Since 1957 Thanksgiving Day has been celebrated in Canada on the second Monday in October.
