When did an English and native tradition become so “American?
” The holiday was proclaimed official by the first U.S. President, George Washington, in 1789, with a Congressional resolution establishing the first national Thanksgiving Day. The reason given was “to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.” During the mid-19th Century, states in the southeastern region of the U.S. criticized the holiday as a relic of Puritanical bigotry. However, by 1858, 25 states approved motions proclaiming official days of thanksgiving, and U.S. President Abraham Lincoln established Thanksgiving as an annual national holiday in 1863. If it’s about the harvest, why do I only ever hear about American football games? Over the years, the fourth Thursday in November has dragged into the fourth Friday as well t
