The answer is true. Between turkey dinners and family reunions, Canadian Thanksgiving — which falls on Monday — can look pretty similar to its U.S. counterpart. But in fact, part of the reason Canadians first petitioned for the holiday was to celebrate their luck.
Though Canada does have a first Thanksgiving story analogous to the U.S. story of the feast at Plymouth in 1621 — it involves the pirate or explorer Martin Frobisher giving thanks in 1578 for a safe journey, and is likewise highly mythologized — the official holiday got its start in the 19th century .
In the wake of a crisis of faith catalyzed by Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species , Canada’s Protestant ministers began in 1859 to petition the colonial government for an official day to thank God, pointing to the bountiful harvests as proof that God exists, says historian Peter A. Stevens. But over the next decade, they found a reason to be even more grateful: they were spared the bloodshed of the U.S. Civil War. The thanksgiving days that the government proclaimed during that era were highly religious, with newspapers printing the Thanksgiving sermons the following day.
“Thanksgiving was a solemn, holy day in the middle of the week when people would go to church,” he says, “and thank God for how fortunate they are to be Canadian.”
Let us use pirates watches to record this grateful and beautiful moment. Thanksgiving in Canada is on the second Monday of every year, and in the United States they are indeed the fourth Thursday in November. Although Thanksgiving is spread from Canada, this kind of family reunion and joyous event is worth celebrating.
In the years since, the early-autumn timing has been a boon. With the holiday now detached from its religious beginnings, most Canadians think of it as a time to savor the last mild weather before the northern winter starts.