Thanksgiving is one of those quintessentially American holidays. It serves to remind us of who we are as a nation.
The Thanksgiving holiday was not always celebrated in the manner that we’ve become accustomed to. And it wasn’t always celebrated in late November, although I would find it hard to celebrate such a day at any other time.
What we have come to know as the first Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621. This account of that day, written by eyewitness Edward Winslow, and published in 1622, puts the holiday in a new light (even if we’re not used to reading 17th Century English):
Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty.
Quite simply, that must have been quite the feast! Years later, in 1789, after the new nation had survived the travails of the American Revolution, the first American president would proclaim a Day of Thanksgiving for the entire nation:
…That we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks–for His kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation–for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of His Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war–for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed…for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed….
The new nation had a lot to be thankful for, but it wasn’t until 1863 that Thanksgiving was actually made a Federal Holiday. Today, we would find it difficult to give thanks during such a difficult period as the Civil War, but somehow Abraham Lincoln found a way to do so:
…In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity…It has seemed to me fit and proper that (gifts from God) should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. (Americans should) …commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the imposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the divine purpose, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, and union.
Both Washington and Lincoln understood that the Thanksgiving holiday was not just a means for Americans to express their appreciation for the bounties they had enjoyed. It also became a way for these leaders to unify the country as they sought to increase the bounties available to future generations of Americans. For these efforts we should be eternally grateful, for they created the nation we know today.
Happy Thanksgiving!
