People celebrate Thanksgiving mainly to give thanks for the “blessings” of the past year, especially family, food, and health, and to keep alive national traditions that grew out of older harvest festivals in North America. In the United States and Canada, it has become a major cultural holiday centered on gathering, eating a special meal, and reflecting on gratitude, even though many people also criticize or rethink the story often told about its origins.

Quick Scoop

Where Thanksgiving Comes From

  • Many Americans learn that Thanksgiving traces back to a 1621 harvest feast shared by English Pilgrims in Plymouth and the Wampanoag people after a successful corn harvest.
  • Over time, this local harvest celebration became part of U.S. national mythology, and in 1863 Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a recurring national “Thanksgiving” day during the Civil War.

Why People Celebrate It Today

  • For many, the core reason is to express gratitude: for surviving another year, for relationships, and for whatever “good things” life has brought.
  • People also celebrate because it is a built‑in time to pause busy routines, reunite with family or friends, and feel a sense of belonging around a shared meal.

Typical Modern Traditions

  • Common customs include a big meal with turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie, plus watching parades or football games and starting the end‑of‑year holiday season.
  • Many use the day for charity or volunteering—serving at food banks or donating to those in need—as a way to “give back” while they give thanks.

Complicated History and New Perspectives

  • Indigenous activists and educators point out that the simple “Pilgrims and Indians” story hides the later violence, land theft, and broken treaties faced by Native nations.
  • Because of this, some people observe the same day as a National Day of Mourning or incorporate land acknowledgments and more accurate history into their gatherings.

How People Are Rethinking It

  • A growing view is to keep the focus on gratitude, togetherness, and good food, while discarding the misleading heroic myths about colonization.
  • In online forum and social media discussions, many say they celebrate Thanksgiving less as a patriotic story and more as an annual “gratitude check‑in” with loved ones, or they choose alternative gatherings that honor Indigenous perspectives.

TL;DR: People celebrate Thanksgiving to gather with others, share a special meal, and practice gratitude, even as more attention is paid to the holiday’s Indigenous history and the need to tell that story honestly.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.