A day of giving thanks began with the Pilgrims and but was only celebrated informally until President George Washington issued a proclamation in 1789 to Congress in an effort to make it official. But it was only celebrated intermittently until 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed it a national holiday:
“It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, 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. And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, 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 interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.”
It was a nice simple holiday until the Turkey Cola company made it a big advertising deal and dressed the turkeys up in pilgrim hats and buckle shoes. Fortunately, the whole Saint Turkey thing faded away pretty quickly.
ladykat 7 months ago
It’s a day to be thankful for what we have.
Bill D. Kat Premium Member 7 months ago
A day of giving thanks began with the Pilgrims and but was only celebrated informally until President George Washington issued a proclamation in 1789 to Congress in an effort to make it official. But it was only celebrated intermittently until 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed it a national holiday:
“It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, 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. And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, 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 interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.”
Phoenix83 7 months ago
Happy-Let’s -Pretend-History-Didn’t-Happen-The -Way-It-Did-And-Just-Eat-Day!
mistercatworks 7 months ago
It was a nice simple holiday until the Turkey Cola company made it a big advertising deal and dressed the turkeys up in pilgrim hats and buckle shoes. Fortunately, the whole Saint Turkey thing faded away pretty quickly.
Don’t get me started on the Cranberry Cartel.