The Rich Heritage of Giving Thanks for American Liberty

While Thanksgiving certainly echoes the early biblical harvest festivals, such as the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), a time when the Israelites gave thanks for God’s provision during the harvest season (Leviticus 23:33–43), the first Thanksgiving is traditionally traced back to 1621 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The Pilgrims, seeking religious liberty and escape from persecution, saw the New World in America as an opportunity to practice their religion freely and to create a society based on their faith and values. The Pilgrims spent 66 days at sea aboard the Mayflower to reach America, including sailing through treacherous storms. Prior to going ashore in Plymouth, they voted to establish a new form of government in the New World and signed America’s first governing document, the Mayflower Compact.

In the Mayflower Compact, the Pilgrims clearly stated both their voyage and new government was for “the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith.” This agreement also established the idea of “just and equal laws” for self-government made by and for the people, a forebear of American democracy. The Pilgrims would then develop relations with the native Wampanoag people who taught them their farming and survival skills. Those who survived the subsequent harsh winter, which took many lives, decided to celebrate their first successful harvest. As Christians, the Pilgrims celebrated their survival, community, and harvest with expressions of gratitude and prayers of thanksgiving emphasizing their reliance on divine grace and providence for their newfound liberty.

Though not uniform, Thanksgiving-like celebrations would become common in the colonies during the 17th and 18th centuries and were often marked by community feasts and religious observances. It wasn’t until 1789 that President George Washington would further inspire the Thanksgiving holiday by issuing the first official Thanksgiving proclamation under America’s new Constitution. Leading up to the Constitution, Washington led the Continental Army, as its general, through many battles and hardships, including harsh winters, food shortages, inadequate clothing and supplies, and intense psychological strain from family separations, suffering of comrades, and the fear of death. It is estimated about 25,000 American soldiers died in the Revolutionary War for the cause of liberty from combat, disease, and British captivity. Despite these overwhelming challenges, Washington understood that his army’s resilience, sacrifices, and ultimate victory were not powered by men alone but also by divine providence. As President, Washington expressed liberty is a natural, God-given right, and he connected hard-won American liberty to a people who honored God and the Christian Faith.

In the nation’s first inaugural address in 1789, President Washington said, “…the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained; and since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.”

Later that year, President Washington proclaimed November 26 as a day of national thanksgiving and prayer. He called on Americans to “acknowledge the providence of Almighty God” for the nation's liberty, independence, and blessings. He proclaimed that Americans should offer “sincere and humble thanks” for God’s “manifold mercies” for victory in the war, in establishing the Constitution, and for the “religious liberty” conferred on the nation by God.

“…we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks…for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed, for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness…,” proclaimed Washington.

"By 1815, the various state governments had issued at least 1,400 official prayer proclamations, almost half for times of thanksgiving and prayer and the other half for times of fasting and prayer. However, much of the credit for America’s national Thanksgiving holiday belongs to Mrs. Sarah Josepha Hale, often called the “Mother of Thanksgiving.”

Leading up to the American Civil War, Hale saw a Thanksgiving holiday as a way to potentially heal and unify the nation through honoring its roots. As a writer and editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book, Hale campaigned for decades to make Thanksgiving a national holiday by writing letters to presidents and publishing articles commending the virtues of gratitude and prayer. As so, she wrote to President Abraham Lincoln advocating for a national Thanksgiving holiday.

During the darkest days of the Civil War, Lincoln was visiting the battlegrounds at Gettysburg. This bloodiest battle in American history claimed approximately 60,000 lives. As Lincoln walked among the thousands of graves at Gettysburg, he committed his life to Jesus Christ. Lincoln conveyed to a clergyman, “When I left Springfield [to assume the presidency], I asked the people to pray for me. I was not a Christian. When I buried my son, the severest trial of my life, I was not a Christian. But when I went to Gettysburg and saw the graves of thousands of our soldiers, I then and there consecrated myself to Christ.”

After Gettysburg, Lincoln was deeply influenced by Hale’s advocacy for a national Thanksgiving holiday. On October 3, 1863, Lincoln issued a formal proclamation that set aside the last Thursday of that November as the first annual National Day of Thanksgiving and Praise.

President Lincoln proclaimed, “In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and provoke their aggressions, 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…