Thanksgiving Day: A Short History

If you grew up in the U.S. then you know the history behind Thanksgiving from an early age. If not, well here's a quick rundown of what they tell you as a child. In the autumn of 1621 a Plymouth governor named William Bradford invited the local Indians to join in a three day festival. The Pilgrims held the festival in gratitude for a bountiful season. This is said to be the "first Thanksgiving."

The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth, Jennie Augusta Brownscombe, 1914

Thanksgiving did not become an annual practice until the late 1660's, but was popular in New England throughout the whole century. The Continental Congress declared the first national American Thanksgiving in commemoration of the Patriot victory in the Battles of Saratoga in 1777. Once the Revolutionary War was won President George Washington proclaimed November 26th as Thanksgiving day at the request of congress to give thanks for the U.S. Constitution.

Remember the President I talked about in my last post? Well President Lincoln was also the one who declared Thanksgiving falls on the last Thursday of November. This is how we know the holiday today. It was in that year that the holiday was first celebrated nationally. Since then, apart from a few deviations, the holiday has been observed on that day. That is, until 1939 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed November 23 (which was the next to last Thursday that year) Thanksgiving. Most Americans refused to honor the President's new date which lasted for the following two years. In 1941, on this exact date, Roosevelt gave in to the people's demand and signed a new bill into law making the fourth Thursday in November the official Thanksgiving day.

FUN FACT: A year later on the same date Casablanca premiered in New York City.