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President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address

The
Pilgrims inaugural Thanksgiving in 1621 was followed by sporadic
national Thanksgiving celebrations but more common celebrations at
the state level. The switch to a standard Thanksgiving holiday at
the federal level came about in the 1800s.

Lincoln’s
1863 Proclamation

Much
of the credit for this adoption may be attributed to Mrs. Sarah
Josepha Hale, editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book (a popular magazine
containing poetry, art work, and articles by America’s leading
authors). She persistently campaigned for an established national
Thanksgiving, such as in this 1852 editorial:

The
American people have two peculiar festivals, each connected with
their history, and therefore of great importance in giving power
and distinctness to their nationality. The Fourth of July Is the
exponent of independence and civil freedom. Thanksgiving Day is
the national pledge of Christian faith in God, acknowledging him
as the dispenser of blessings. These two festivals should be
joyfully and universally observed throughout our whole country,
and thus incorporated in our habits of thought as inseparable
from American life.

For
two decades, Hale promoted the idea of a national Thanksgiving
Day, writing
president after president. Abraham Lincoln eventually responded to
this persistence in 1863 by setting aside the last Thursday of
that November. The Thanksgiving proclamation issued by Lincoln at
that time was remarkable not only for its strong religious content
but also for its timing. It was delivered in the midst of the
darkest days of the Civil War, after the Union had lost multiple
battles in the first three years of that conflict. Yet, despite
those dark circumstances, Lincoln called Americans to give thanks
that:

In
the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity,
which has sometimes seemed to invite and provoke the aggressions
of foreign States, peace has been preserved with all nations,
order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and
obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the
theater of military conflict.

In
that proclamation, President Lincoln also noted that:

The
year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the
blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these
bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to
forget the Source from which they come, others have been added
which are of so extraordinary a nature that they can not fail to
penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually
insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God. . .
. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked
out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most
High God, Who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath
nevertheless remembered mercy.

Presidents
After Lincoln

Over
the seventy-five years following Lincoln’s Thanksgiving
Proclamation, presidents faithfully followed Lincoln’s precedent,
annually declaring a national Thanksgiving Day. The date, however,
of the celebrations varied widely from proclamation to
proclamation.

Among
the many Thanksgiving proclamations in the WallBuilders’
collection is an 1887 handwritten one issued by President Grover
Cleveland in which he once again emphasized God’s hand:

The
goodness and the mercy of God, which have followed the American
people during all the days of the past year claim our grateful
recognition and humble acknowledgment. By His omnipotent power
He has protected us from war and pestilence and from every
national calamity; by His gracious favor the earth has yielded a
generous return to the labor of the husbandman, and every path
of honest toil has led to comfort and contentment; by His loving
kindness the hearts of our people have been replenished with
fraternal sentiment and patriotic endeavor, and by His Fatherly
guidance we have been directed in the way of national
prosperity.

In
1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt set the precedent of
celebrating Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of each November.
And in 1941, Congress permanently established that day as the
national Thanksgiving holiday.

During
World War II, (which would eventually claim the lives of over
400,000 Americans),
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued a Thanksgiving
proclamation for November 1944 asking Americans to be thankful . .
.

For
the preservation of our way of life from the threat of
destruction; for the unity of spirit which has kept our Nation
strong; for our abiding faith in freedom; and for the promise of
an enduring peace.

President
George W. Bush summarized this history of Thanksgiving
proclamations and celebrations in his 2007 Thanksgiving
proclamation:

Our
country was founded by men and women who realized their
dependence on God and were humbled by His providence and grace.
The early explorers and settlers who arrived in this land gave
thanks for God’s protection and for the extraordinary natural
abundance they found. Since the first National Day of
Thanksgiving was proclaimed by President George Washington,
Americans have come together to offer thanks for our many
blessings.

As
Americans continue to “Be
thankful in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT),
our Thanksgiving celebrations should include reflections on all
the reasons to be truly thankful to God for His many blessings.
Perhaps the four items George Washington mentioned in America’s
original federal Thanksgiving proclamation in 1789 should
be the basis for future Thanksgiving commemorations:

1. Acknowledge
   the providence of Almighty God;
2. Obey
   His will;
3. Be
   grateful for His benefits; and
4. Humbly
   implore His protection and favor.