On October 3, 1863, with the recent victories of the Battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg on his mind, as well as the costs of American casualties incurred on these and other battlefields of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation:
"I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, . . . to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving. . . . And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him . . . , 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 Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union."
President Lincoln's proclamation is viewed as the beginning of the national holiday of Thanksgiving Day. It was one of nine similar proclamations that Lincoln issued during his presidency.
Educational Resource: Explore the document and its history, along with supplementary materials that help highlight the text of Lincoln's proclamation itself, as well as questions for discussion for students -
Primary Document Resources (for lesson plan):
Lincoln's Proclamation (National Archives)
Thomas Nast's, "The Union Altar" Harper's Weeky, Dec. 5, 1863
Supplementary Resources:
It is late November. A few stubborn leaves still cling to their branches. We gather with our families around the dining room table. The turkey is carved, the cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes are passed around, the smell of pumpkin pie fills the air. There are parades and football games on the television. We gather and give thanks for all we have, with family and friends. How did we reach this Thanksgiving Day tradition? How did we get from traditional harvest celebrations to eating turkey and watching football? Is Mr. Lincoln responsible? For more on Lincoln’s connection to the national holiday, see the following link from the Lincoln Home National Historic Site.
Was there someone particularly responsible for encouraging President Abraham Lincoln to issue a proclamation calling for a specific national day of giving thanks? Dr. Christian McWhirter, the Lincoln Historian at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois identifies Sarah J. Hale, one of Lincoln's most famous correspondents, who sent him a letter in late September 1863 as perhaps that individual in the following blog.
For more on Sarah J. Hale, listen to the following NPR story, “The woman who pushed to make Thanksgiving a national holiday.”
For more on how Lincoln and his role in establishing Thanksgiving, see Zachary Klitzman's article from the Lincoln Cottage: “Lincoln’s Other Proclamation: The Creation of the First Annual Thanksgiving Day Tradition” Lincoln Cottage, Vol. 13. (Fall 2011)
Image courtesy of The Library of Congress: Sketch of Thanksgiving in camp (of General Louis Blenker) during the Civil War, Thursday November 28th 1861. The artist is Alfred Rudolph Waud (1828-91)