Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Messages
In the Lincoln era, Thanksgiving Day meant just that. A day set aside when all Americans could give Thanks for the blessings of life, liberty, the pursuit (but not a guarantee) of happiness, and the myriad of other experiences and gifts for which we should be grateful. It was intended to be a spiritual Thanksgiving, regardless of religious beliefs, race, creed and political differences. We may have lost a bit of that special reason for the occasion.
It is a historical fact that, on October 23, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed a proclamation declaring the final Thursday in November as a “Day of Thanksgiving” and our nation has continuously celebrated this special day, with just one change. Congress later moved the day to the fourth Thursday in November to avoid confusion in those infrequent years when there are five Thursdays in the month. We now had an official Thanksgiving Day!
But the story leading up to that declaration is more complicated and interesting. For example, that October 1863 proclamation was not Lincoln’s first, nor was Lincoln the first President to issue a proclamation of Thanksgiving in the United States. Even much earlier, Pilgrims in North America declared a Day of Thanksgiving in 1621 to celebrate their first harvest and, by the early 1700s, individual colonies began declaring a Day of Thanksgiving for various reasons and at different times of the year.
On a national level, on October 3, 1789, President George Washington proclaimed a Thanksgiving Day for Thursday, November 26. However, since Washington was meticulously pragmatic and not prone to issue any type of religious or celebratory statements, he began with this disclaimer, “Both houses of Congress have requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed.”
Thereafter, a few Presidents and the Governors of several states, periodically issued Thanksgiving Proclamations, however none designated a continuing November date.
During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln issued four proclamations establishing special days for Prayer and/or Thanksgiving; in August 1861, in April and October 1863, and in October 1864. However, only the 1863 and 1864 proclamations attempted to establish a recurring Thanksgiving Day in November. The proclamations were actually collaborative efforts between Lincoln and William Seward, his Secretary of State, as the two had learned to respect and trust each other’s political instincts and writing skills. Seward was a devout Episcopalian and his passages tended to be more ecclesiastical and flourishing; while Lincoln, who was no less spiritual, tended to use simpler terms. Readers can usually discern which phrase was more likely Seward’s or Lincoln’s.
Unfortunately, over time, some writers, especially in internet posts, have confused the various proclamations and presented erroneous text as “Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Day Proclamation.” I have even seen some that include passages from his Gettysburg address and his Second Inaugural speech. These “modifications” may have been well-intended; however, it is important that we maintain a correct historical record of these proclamations or, over time, the false texts become the “new” history. For ease of identification, most scholars refer to the four proclamations as the 1861 Proclamation for Prayer, the April 1863 Proclamation for Prayer, the 1863 Thanksgiving Day Proclamation, and the 1864 Thanksgiving Day Proclamation. The following are only summaries, as the full texts are rather lengthy.
In August 1861, the awful realities were becoming evident that the Civil War would last longer and more people would die than anyone expected. Lincoln and Seward felt that the people might be comforted by a special day on which the nation as a whole would turn to their religious faith, in whatever forms that may take, to ask for guidance in restoring the forefathers’ vision for the United States. That 1861 Presidential proclamation read (in part):
“..And, whereas our own beloved country, once by the blessing of God, united, prosperous, and happy, is now afflicted with faction and Civil War, it is particularly fit for us to recognize the hand of God in this terrible visitation, and …. to humble ourselves and pray for His mercy….and that the inestimable boon of civil and religious liberty earned by the labors and sufferings of our forefathers, may be restored…” The Proclamation declared the last Thursday in September, 1861, as a day of humiliation, prayer, and fasting and urged “all ministers and teachers of religion of all denominations and the heads of all families to observe and keep that day according to their creeds and modes of worship.”
Not quite an official “Thanksgiving Day” but a good start!
By early 1863, Lincoln and Seward believed that the North would eventually defeat the Confederacy, but neither thought the War would end soon. In April, 1863, they decided to issue another proclamation of prayer; but still did not use the phrase “Thanksgiving” rather it set “April 30, 1863 as a day of national humiliation, fasting, and prayer.” It was signed by Lincoln and, in summary, it read as follows: “..We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. ...But we have vainly imagined….that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own (and) we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving Grace….And I do request that all the people abstain that day from their ordinary secular pursuits and to unite at their several places of public worship and in their respective homes, in keeping that day Holy…. Let us rest humbly in the hope (for) the restoration of our now divided and suffering country…” This was a noble document, which set aside another day for national reflection, but it still did not establish a recurring Thanksgiving Day.
But Lincoln would soon have to deal with a determined woman named Sarah Buell Hale! She was a well-known editor of the popular “The Ladies Magazine”, a novelist, and a poet, who wrote Mary had a Little Lamb. For over thirty years, she used her public persona to lobby individual states and Congress to declare a national Thanksgiving Day and, by 1860, thirty-one states had done so; however, she had no success with Congress or with the four Presidents who preceded Lincoln. She and her readers continued to “encourage” (her word) and “pester” (one recipient’s word) national politicians to establish a specific day for Thanksgiving. Then, in the midst of Civil War, Mrs. Hale wrote to President Lincoln suggesting that he declare a designated day “for all Americans to put aside sectional feelings and local incidents” and “to be thankful for the blessings of life, not of war.” President Lincoln asked Secretary Seward to draft such a Presidential Proclamation, to which Lincoln only made a few changes; and, for the first time, a fixed date of the last Thursday in November for the national observance was established.
The document, simply titled, Proclamation, was signed by Lincoln on October 3, 1863 and read (in part): “…the year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies…bounties which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come. In the midst of Civil War of unequaled magnitude and severity, peace has been preserved with all (other) nations, laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has been preserved except in the theater of military conflict; while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.” Lincoln and Seward went on to describe the wealth that was building in the north from farming, mining, and transportation, and advances in bringing in new states from western territories; while still keeping up an aggressive war effort against the Confederacy. (That last portion was decried by Southern politicians and newspaper editors). But then Lincoln and Seward returned to the basic theme of gratitude and Thanksgiving. “No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. It seems fit and proper that they should solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledge as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens to…observe the last Thursday in November as a Day of Thanksgiving and Praise… And I recommend to them that they do so with humble penitence…and commend to His tender care those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and implore the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and restore it ….to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and Union.” Note that the phrase “A Day of Thanksgiving” was specifically included!
Not every American, however, was pleased with the proclamation. While the October 1863 Proclamation was widely reported in Southern newspapers, rather than inspire people as it had in the North, it offended many in the South by its references to successful military campaigns against the Confederacy and restoration of the Union.
A year later, on October 20, 1864, President Lincoln issued his second actual Thanksgiving Day proclamation, again declaring the last Thursday of November for the special Day. As before, Lincoln and Secretary Seward collaborated to issue a memorable document, again titled simply Proclamation which read (in part): “It has pleased Almighty God to prolong our national life another year,…(to grant) many and signal victories over the enemy who is of our own household…He has augmented our free population by emancipation and by immigration, while he has opened new sources of wealth and has crowned the labor of our workingmen….. He has been pleased to inspire our minds and hearts with fortitude, courage, and resolution sufficient for the great trial of Civil War into which we have been brought by our adherence as a nation to the cause of freedom and humanity …Therefore I set apart the last Thursday in November as a day …of Thanksgiving and praise, for a return of the inestimable blessings of peace, union, and harmony throughout the land.” Again, it was to be “a Day of Thanksgiving.”
However, because of an assassin’s bullet a few months later, this became President Lincoln’s last Thanksgiving Day Proclamation.
Sarah Hale lived to see her vision become a treasured special day “to be thankful for the blessings of life.” And, as she, Lincoln, and Seward hoped, it is observed across all lines that, on other matters, may divide us; such as geography, ethnicity, religion, and politics.
Since every one of Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamations spoke of unity and harmony within our country, I wonder what he would think of us now? Hopefully, in a year of serious political divisions, we will try to honor that message as we celebrate this special holiday.
I hope you have a wonderful, and reflective, Thanksgiving Day.