USA and Italy

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National Celebrationsin

• USA and Italy
• a comparison

Francesca Dal Ben, Lucrezia Bissaro, Annalisa
Giorgio
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Table of contents

• Independence Day
• La Festa della Repubblica
• The Labor Day
• La Festa del Lavoro
• Thanksgiving Day
• Italian Thanksgiving Day?
• Celebrations differences in USA vs. Italy
• Religious and Civil Celebrations in USA vs. Italy

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4 July 1776Philadelphia, Pennsylvenia13
Colonies declared their Independence from Great
Britain 4 Julyis Americas Birthday
Independence Day (1)

• Four score and seven years ago our father
  brought forth on this continent a new nation,
  conceived in liberty and dedicated to the
  proposition that all men are created EQUAL

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Independence Day (2) the fourth of July History

• First Continental Congress
• 1774 twelve North American colonies sent their
  delegates to Philadelphia to discuss their
  relationship with Britain

• Second Continental Congress
• 1776 the Congress organized Americans into war
  against Britain
• The members of the Congress (Thomas
  Jefferson,John Adams,Benjamin Franklin,Robert
  Livingston and Robert Sherman) started writing
  the Declaration of Independence

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Fourth of July Rituals

• Outdoors
• Patriotic speeches
• Picnics in parks
• Grill (hotdogs, hamburgers)
• Watermelon
• Beer and iced tea

• The most famous fireworks
• New York,
• Macys sponsor
• The most famous parade
• Washington D.C.
• 25 Marching bands
• 15 floats
• Drill teams
• 300,000 spectators

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La Festa della Repubblica the 2nd of June

• 2 JUNE 1946 Referedum MONARCHY OR REPUBLIC?
• REPUBLIC!
• In Rome MILITARY PARADE, the bringing of the bay
  wreath to MILITE IGNOTO
• The national flying circus of the Italian army
• Outside Rome? NO CELEBRATIONS

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July 4 vs. June 2

• ITALY
• Older generations who experienced the war know
  that in this day people commemorate the founding
  of Italian Republic and the end of the monarchy
  and understand its historical significance
• Younger generations havent been taught the
  importance of 2nd of June in schools
• There is not a strong sense of nationalism in
  Italy

• USA
• Americans are not just celebrating the
  Independence, but the Declaration of
  Independence!
• Abraham Lincoln defined it
• The charter of our liberties
• Children at school learn by heart some commas of
  the Declaration of Independence
• We hold these truths to be self-evident, that
  all men are created equal, that they are endowed
  by their Creator, with certain unalienable
  Rights, that among these are LIFE, LIBERTY and
  the PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

They think it is just a military parade
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Patriotism in USA and Italy

• ITALY
• Division of Italy into many rival
• City-States (Florence, the duchy of Milan, the
  Papal States)
• Several foreign invasions
• (Spain, France, Austro-Hungarian empire)
• Strong provincial or even local identity?

• USA
• America was founded by Pilgrims, who came from
  England to the New World with a desire for a new
  life and religious freedom
• Following independence America has never been
  invaded by foreign states
• 1867 American forefathers fought for freedom and
  unification
• Nationalism

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Labor Dayfirst Monday of September
History

• Sept.5, 1882, New York City first ever Labor Day
  parade by the Knights of Labor
• 1884 Knights adopted a resolution for
  recognition of Labor Day
• Early May 1886 general strike and Chicago
  Haymarket Riots
• 1887 Labor Day as a state holiday in Oregon,
  Colorado, New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey

• 1894 President Cleveland recognized Labor Day as
  an official national holiday

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Meaning of Labor Day

• day of the working man or
• simple day of rest ?
• last fling of summer
• last weekend for parties before school

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Events and Celebrations

• PAST
• street parades
• festival for the recreation and amusement of the
  workers and their families
• picnics
• fireworks
• speeches by prominent men and women

• NOW
• rare political demonstrations
• parades only in some cities
• picnics, barbecues, fireworks displays, water
  sports and public art events
• trips to beaches and other resort areas
• since 1966 telethon of the Muscular Dystrophy
  Association

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La Festa del Lavorothe 1st of May
History

• American roots commemoration of the Haymarket
  Square Riot in Chicago
• 1891 the International Conference in Brussels
  made May 1 The International Workers Day
• Beginning of 1900 demand of the right of
  universal suffrage, Libyan enterprise,
  participation of Italy in the World war
• prohibition by Mussolini during Fascism
• 1945 reintroduction after the Liberation
  following WWII

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Meaning of Festa del Lavoro

• from the Workers Day to a simple day of
  rest
• first taste of summer
• Events and Celebrations
• demonstrations of trade unions in some cities
• trips, picnics
• since the 90s a massive free rock concert in
  Romes Piazza San Giovanni organized by the trade
  unions (Cgil, Cisl and Uil)

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Labor Day vs. Festa del Lavoro

• Differences
• Date
• Last fling of summer vs first taste of summer

• Similarities
• American roots
• Loss of the original meaning
• Only one day of rest
• Political demonstrations and parades only in some
  cities
• Occasion for trips, picnics

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Thanksgiving Day the fourth Thursday of November
History

• 1620 Pilgrims on the Mayflower arrived in
  Plymouth
•  
• Wampanoag Indian tribe offered their precious
  help to the Plymouth colony 
• 1621 The abundant harvest and the first
  Thanksgiving feast celebrated by the Pilgrims and
  the Indians
•  
• First Thanksgiving menu turkey, corn, pumpkins,
  cranberry, clams, eel and other fish, wild plums
  and leeks, corn bread, and watercress 

• The feast spread from Plymouth
• to other New England colonies
• on different dates

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A new Traditional Holiday

• 1789 President George Washington proclaimed
  November 26 a day of Thanksgiving
•  
• For many years the country had no regular
  national Thanksgiving
•  
• The contribution of Sarah Josepha Hale to promote
  the idea of a national Thanksgiving Day
•  
• 1863 President Lincoln  proclaimed the last
  Thursday in November as a day of thanksgiving
  and praise to our beneficent Father
•  
• 1939 President Franklin D. Roosevelt set the
  celebration the week earlier
•  
• Thanksgiving Day is now celebrated on the fourth
  Thursday in November

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Thanksgiving Celebration

• Thanksgiving Day is a big family celebration  
•  
• During Thanksgiving Day people thank God for the
  good things received
•  
• The dinner is the central part
•  
• Turkey is the centerpiece on any Thanksgiving
  table
• Many of the images and symbols derive from the
  older traditions of celebrating the autumn
  harvest
•  

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• Parades with colourful balloons and children
  dressed in traditional costumes

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Thanksgiving Day in Italy?
Italian Christmas like American Thanksgiving
Day is a big family feast
Family dinner is the central part Natale con i
tuoi, Pasqua con chi vuoi!
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Celebration differences

• USA
• Most American Celebrations are commemorative in
  nature and origin
• Religious fragmentations U.S. is one of the most
  religiously diverse countries in the world
• (52 Protestants, 24 Catholics, 2 Mormons,
  2 Buddhists, 1 Jews, 1 Muslims)
• Celebrations a way to unify citizens of
  different ethnic groups, religions and cultures
• Celebrations are based on different social and
  cultural sources and traditions

• ITALY
• Most Italian Celebrations are religious
• Role of Catholic Church throughout the centuries,
  majority of Italians are Catholics (87,8
  Catholics)
• Celebrations a way to unify Italian Catholics
• Celebrations are based on Christian traditions
  and the lives of the Saints

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Celebrations

• USA
• Religious Celebrations
• Christmas
• Easter
• Civil Celebrations
• New Years Day
• Thanksgiving Day (the fourth Thursday in
  November)
• The fourth of July or Independence Day
• Martin Luther King Day (third Monday in January)
• Presidents Day (the third Monday in February)
• Memorial Day (the fourth Monday in May)
• Labor Day (the first Monday in September)
• Columbus Day (second Monday in October)
• Veterans Day (on November 11th)

• ITALY
• Religious celebrations
• Epiphany (6th January)
• Easter
• Easter Monday
• Assumption Day (15th August)
• All Saints Day (1st November)
• Feast of the Immaculate Conception (8th December)
• Christmas (25th December)
• Saint Stephens Day (26th December)
• New Years Day (1st January)
• Civil celebrations
• Liberation Day (25th April)
• Labor Day (1st May)
• National Day (2nd June)

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Thank you!