President Abraham Lincoln instituted the celebration of Thanksgiving as a national holiday in 1863 after the Union victory at the battle of Gettysburg, during the American Civil War. It was not a new idea – in 1789, President George Washington had proposed a yearly presidential proclamation of each annual Thanksgiving holiday, but President Thomas Jefferson refused to issue one after he was elected, as he considered it a religious event. Later presidents followed his example, and the holiday was effectively discontinued on the national level until Lincoln’s declaration.
Today, Thanksgiving Day has come to be celebrated every year on the fourth Thursday of November. As a specialist in Catholic history and worship, I am aware that behind the history and legend of the first Thanksgiving lies a rich story that illuminates the medieval Christian roots of the holiday.
