This Day in American History November 25
The Library Of Congress
The Library Of Congress
Thanksgiving Day
A Proclamation For a Publick Thanksgiving,
By the Honourable Gurdon Saltonstall, Esq; Governour of His Majesty’s Colony of Connecticut in New-England 1721.
An American Time Capsule
On the fourth Thursday in November, Americans express gratitude for their good fortune. The American Thanksgiving tradition, celebrated on November 25, 2004, originated with the Pilgrims. As early as 1621, the puritan colonists of Plymouth, Massachusetts set aside a day of thanks for a bountiful harvest. Throughout the colonial period and into the nineteenth century, official days of feasting and fasting commemorated periods of good and poor fortune.
When Boston Harbor was closed in retribution for the Boston Tea Party, for example, Massachusetts authorities declared a fast day. The Virginia House of Burgesses ordered fasting in support of the Bay colony. Complying with the proclamation, on June 1, 1774, George Washington noted in his diary, “Went to Church and fasted all day.” Fifteen years later, President George Washington proclaimed the first national Thanksgiving Day under the Constitution.
Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and Whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanks-giving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.” Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th. day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.
George Washington, Proclamation, October 3, 1789.
The George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress
Although early Thanksgiving days were spontaneous celebrations, by the mid-nineteenth century an annual fall Thanksgiving meal was customary throughout much of the nation. During the gold rush, miners far from home observed a day of thanks. On December 1, 1850, Alfred T. Jackson of Litchfield County, Connecticut described his California Thanksgiving.
Although there was nothing to show it, we observed Thursday as Thanksgiving, as that was the legal day in the States. All we did was to lay off and eat quail stew and dried apple pie. I thought a lot about the old folks and would like to have been home with them, and I guess I will be next year…
Alfred T. Jackson, December 1, 1850
The Diary of a Forty-Niner p. 38.
“California As I Saw It”: First Person Narratives of California’s Early Years, 1849-1900
Writer/editor Sarah Josepha Hale pushed for an annual day of national Thanksgiving. From the helm of several prominent women’s magazines, Hale editorialized about the importance of an national Thanksgiving celebration. On October 3, 1863, in the wake of victory at Gettysburg, President Abraham Lincoln decided to issue a Thanksgiving Proclamation that declared the last Thursday in November national Thanksgiving Day. The President’s Hymn, composed in honor of the new holiday, rang out across the nation.
Give thanks, all ye people, give thanks to the Lord,
Alleluias of freedom with joyful accord:
Let the East and the West, North and South roll along,
Sea, mountain and prairie, One thanksgiving song.
The President’s Hymn, 1863.
