Prayers of thanks and special thanksgiving ceremonies are
common among almost all religions after harvests and at other times
The Thanksgiving holiday's history in North America is rooted in
English traditions dating from the Protestant Reformation. It also has
aspects of a harvest festival, even though the harvest in New England
occurs well before the late-November date on which the modern
Thanksgiving holiday is celebrated.
In the English tradition, days of thanksgiving and special thanks-
giving religious services became important during the English
Reformation in the reign of Henry VIII and in reaction to the large
number of religious holidays on the Catholic calendar. Before 1536
there were 95 Church holidays, plus 52 Sundays, when people were
required to attend church and forego work and sometimes pay for
expensive celebrations. The 1536 reforms reduced the number of
Church holidays to 27, but some Puritans wished to completely
eliminate all Church holidays, including Christmas and Easter. The
holidays were to be replaced by specially called Days of Fasting or
Days of Thanksgiving, in response to events that the Puritans viewed
as acts of special providence. Unexpected disasters or threats of
judgement from on high called for Days of Fasting. Special blessings,
viewed as coming from God, called for Days of Thanksgiving. For
example, Days of Fasting were called on account of drought in 1611,
floods in 1613, and plagues in 1604 and 1622. Days of Thanksgiving
were called following the victory over the Spanish Armada in 1588
and following the deliverance of Queen Anne in 1705. An unusual
annual Day of Thanksgiving began in 1606 following the failure of the
Gunpowder Plot in 1605 and developed into Guy Fawkes Day.