About Thanksgiving Day in the United States
Thanksgiving Day is a federal holiday on the fourth Thursday in November. It is associated with giving thanks, family and community meals, while its history includes many different North American traditions and changing interpretations.
A holiday with a complex history
The Library of Congress notes that Native communities practiced traditions of giving thanks long before European settlement. Different colonial communities also held religious or harvest thanksgivings, so the modern holiday cannot be reduced to one simple origin story.
George Washington proclaimed a national thanksgiving in 1789, and Abraham Lincoln established an annual November observance during the Civil War. Modern teaching increasingly includes Native perspectives and the consequences of colonization.
Why it is the fourth Thursday
Presidential proclamations did not initially produce a permanent uniform date. A dispute over the November date in 1939 and 1940 led Congress to establish the fourth Thursday in November in 1941.
Federal law now uses that Thursday rule. The date changes each year but always falls between 22 and 28 November, with no separate weekend substitute needed.
Planning for Thanksgiving
Meals and family gatherings are common, and the period is a major travel time. Exact customs differ among families, communities and religious or cultural backgrounds.
Federal offices close, but transport and private-business schedules vary. Confirm travel and opening hours early, and do not assume that every organization also closes on the following Friday.
Common questions about Thanksgiving Day
When is Thanksgiving Day?
It is the fourth Thursday in November.
Is the Friday after Thanksgiving also a federal holiday?
No. The federal legal holiday is Thursday; individual employers and organizations decide their Friday schedules.