Most Christian religions celebrate the Sabbath on Sunday as a way of commemorating that the Savior rose from the dead. These sects believe this was a tradition that started in the very early days of Christianity. However, I don't know of any scriptural or historical references to back this up. However, it should be noted that this is not a practice that is limited to North America. This is a practice that is common throughout the vast majority of the Christian denominations.

Glenn is right, this oddity is not exclusively North American. It probably has its origin in European Christendom, even though it may be less commonly observed there now, as that society has become somewhat more secularized. Not everybody calls Sunday "Sabbath". Many Christians still understand Saturday to be the "Sabbath", but see the laws of Sabbath observance as not binding in the New Testament era. The Bible does not give precedent for transferring Sabbath observance to Sunday. Christians met on the first day of the week, Sunday, as a weekly commemoration of Christ's resurrection--calling it "the Lord's day". Jewish Christians in the early church tended to continue to meet with Jews in synagogue on Saturday as well, both as a matter of deeply ingrained habit, and for purposes of evangelism. We don't see the Gentile Christians being instructed to observe Sabbath. There are indeed, however, many Protestant traditions (I don't know how it's handled in Catholicism or Orthodoxy) which call Sunday the "Christian Sabbath", but, as with any man-made tradition, observe it with great inconsistency. And there are Christians who insist that the appropriate day of rest and worship is still Saturday. Among those who meet on Sunday, and do not feel bound by Sabbath law, there are many who recognize a "Sabbath principle" which still has value (myself included). A day a week where most normal activities are set aside or scaled back, which is devoted more directly to spiritual pursuits including but not limited to church meetings, seems to be wise and beneficial for the soul. This however becomes more a matter of conscience, than commandment. Meeting regularly with one's church though, on whatever schedule, is not optional.

Sunday is not Sabbath and the Law is not done away with. Sunday is no more the Sabbath than Christmas is the birthday of the Biblical Messiah. The reason for calling Sunday (the venerable day of the sun in pagan worship) the Sabbath is that the lie was codified in the 3rd century and has been passed down by our so called church fathers and we have those lies just as Jeremiah foretold in Jeremiah 16:19-21. Thankfully many are beginning to awaken to the Truth.