Thanksgiving began in the United States as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year.
Although the American concept of Thanksgiving developed in the colonies of New England, its roots can be traced both to Native Americans, as well as back to the other side of the Atlantic.
Both the Separatists who came over on the Mayflower and the Puritans who arrived soon after brought with them a tradition of providential holidays—days of fasting during difficult or pivotal moments and days of feasting and celebration to thank God in times of plenty.
As an annual celebration of the harvest and its bounty, moreover, Thanksgiving falls under a category of festivals that spans cultures, continents and millennia. In ancient times, the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans feasted and paid tribute to their gods after the fall harvest. Thanksgiving also bears a resemblance to the ancient Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot.*