Is there any historical connection between Guy Fawkes Day and (American) Thanksgiving?
Just wondering.
The reason I'm asking is because the holiday now known as Guy Fawkes Day was originally a religious holiday, the only annual day of thanksgiving in the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer. It was originally called, "Thanksgiving for the happy deliverance of his Majestie, the Queene, Prince, and States of Parliament from the bloody intended Massacre by Gunpowder on the 5th of November 1605" or Gunpowder Treason Day for short.
It was also the only annual holiday observed by English Puritans. Although neither the Pilgrim Separatists nor the New England Puritans observed it (because of their ban on annual holidays, which they considered "dead ritual") many among them were non-believers, mostly Anglican Puritans who didn't agree with the strict interpretation of the Separatists and extreme Puritans.
In the early days, people were caught illegally observing Gunpowder Treason Day. When the ban was lifted in 1688, it became by far the most important reli