 Thanksgiving was founded as a religious observance for all the members of the community to give thanks to God for a common purpose.A 1541 thanksgiving mass was held by the Spanish explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado and his expedition of 1,500 men at Palo Duro Canyon in what is today the Texas Panhandle.A thanksgiving took place after the victory in the 1777 Battle of Saratoga during the Revolutionary War.