History of Thanksgiving | Douglasville Family Law Attorney
Thanksgiving History

Thanksgiving History

The History of Thanksgiving

The story of the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving Feast of 1621 is one that most Americans think of when celebrating the holiday. Few realize that long before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, Native Americans celebrated with dances and rituals in hopes of ensuring a good harvest.  In 1578, the first Thanksgiving celebrated by Europeans in North America was a church type of service in Newfoundland.  Historians believe a celebration was also held in 1607 at the Popham Colony in Maine. After a harsh winter, the Jamestown colonists celebrated Thanksgiving in 1610 at the arrival of a supply ship. And when the Berkley Hundred settlers arrived in Virginia it was declared a day for yearly observation of Thanksgiving.  Many British colonists attended Thanksgiving services prior to the Pilgrim celebration.

The Pilgrims Change Thanksgiving

The Pilgrims changed things a bit by holding a three-day Thanksgiving feast in 1621, attended by 90 Native Americans and 53 Pilgrims where they played games and drank liquor separately from saying grace. In 1623, Thanksgiving was a bit different for the colonists, and they fasted and prayed for relief from the drought that was destroying their crops.  A few days later the rain came and Captain Miles Standish arrived with a little food and news that a supply ship was close to the port.  Ecstatic that their outlook had turned positive, the colonists held a day of Thanksgiving and prayer on June 30, 1623.  This was the first Thanksgiving where social and religious celebration were combined and appears to be the origin of our modern holiday.

A National Holiday

For over 150 years, around harvest time, festivals of Thanksgiving were periodically observed on a local level. In 1789, Elias Boudinot, a member of the House of Representatives, thought that a day of Thanksgiving should be held to thank God for giving the American people the opportunity to create a Constitution and to preserve hard won freedoms.  Approved by a Congressional Joint Committee, President George Washington proclaimed that the citizens of the United States observe “a day of public thanksgiving and prayer” on Thursday, the 26th of November.  Three Presidents followed Washington’s example with their own Thanksgiving proclamations, excluding Thomas Jefferson who believed that there would be a conflict between the separation of church and state. A crusader for the cause for 36 years, Sarah Josepha Hale wrote articles, recipes and sent letters to governors, senators and Presidents asking for a national Thanksgiving holiday.  After the Union Army’s victory at Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln declared the fourth Thursday of November as a national Thanksgiving Day. Excluding two times since Lincoln’s declaration, the Thanksgiving holiday has been celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November.

Thanksgiving is a holiday when many families get together to “give thanks” and many churches have special services.  We have both Native Americans and immigrants to thank for the creation of this wonderful American tradition.

Sources

http://www.si.edu/encyclopedia_si/nmah/thanks.htm

http://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving

 

The information found on the Gerstenberger Law site is for educational purposes only.  Your situation and the situation of others is unique and more complex.  This is neither legal advice nor to be considered legal advice.  Contact us for advice about your specific situation.

 

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