Thanksgiving, Sacrifice, and America

As an official United States holiday, Thanksgiving is inextricably linked to our nation's founding and its times of conflict. The earliest Thanksgiving observances were announced by presidents, often during serious wars. These observances served as reminders to be thankful, even during difficulty, and to remember those courageous individuals who were sacrificing much to defend our country.

The first official Thanksgiving proclamation was issued in 1777 by the Continental Congress after the American victory in the Battle of Saratoga. The proclamation asked God to, "smile upon us in the prosecution of a just and necessary war, for the defense and establishment of our unalienable rights and liberties."

Later, on October 3, 1789, eight years after the surrender of the British army at Yorktown, President George Washington issued a proclamation, "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness." In this same address, President Washington assigned a specific day for the purpose of that thanksgiving and prayer: "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; 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."

Not until President Abraham Lincoln began issuing a proclamation for a national day of thanksgiving did it become the custom of U.S. presidents to do so. In the midst of the Civil War, the worst war in our nation's history, Lincoln established a permanent observance by calling on the American people to "set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens."

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