Hale is credited as the individual most responsible for making Thanksgiving a national holiday in the United States; it had previously been celebrated only in New England.[26] Each state scheduled its own holiday, some as early as October and others as late as January; it was largely unknown in the American South. Her advocacy for the national holiday began in 1846 and lasted 17 years before it was successful.[27] In support of the proposed national holiday, she wrote letters to five Presidents of the United States -- Zachary Taylor, Millard Filmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, and Abraham Lincoln. Her initial letters failed to persuade, but the letter she wrote to Lincoln did convince him to support legislation establishing a national holiday of Thanksgiving in 1863.[28] The new national holiday was considered a unifying day after the stress of the American Civil War.[29] Prior to the addition of Thanksgiving, the only national holidays celebrated in the United States were Washington's Birthday and Independence Day.[6]posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:07 AM on November 26, 2009 [6 favorites]
Sarah Josepha Hale, (1788-1879), who is called “the Mother of the American Thanksgiving,” is more well-known as the Newport, New Hampshire woman who became editor, or "editress," as she preferred to be called, of the popular nineteenth century publication known as Godey's Lady's Book. Hale was an influential leader who persuaded President Lincoln to declare an annual day of Thanksgiving in 1864. Initially, the date of August 6 had been set, by proclamation.posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:14 AM on November 26, 2009 [1 favorite]
In 1842, Hale's first mentioned the idea of a national Thanksgiving, according to a book, To My Countrywomen: The Life of Sarah Josepha Hale by Muriel L. Dubois (Apprentice Shop Books, LLC, Bedford, NH, 2006). Thereafter, Hale and her assistant had labored intently to see that dream come true. She believed that the country should follow George Washington's lead. He had selected November 26, 1789, during the fourth week of the month, as a day for the country to engage in prayerful worship to acknowledge its blessings. Therefore, she was dismayed when the August date was declared.</blockquote
It was a cool and lonelyposted by chunking express at 8:10 AM on November 27, 2009
Offishall style that coerced her to smile
Chalk another to the file
Quest for breasts, my intent to impress the mistress
So cess broke the ice like Gretzky
The history of Thanksgiving in Canada goes back to an explorer, Martin Frobisher, who had been trying to find a northern passage to the Pacific Ocean. Frobisher's Thanksgiving was not for harvest but homecoming. He had safely returned from a search for the Northwest Passage, avoiding the later fate of Henry Hudson and Sir John Franklin. In the year 1578, he held a formal ceremony, in what is now the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, to give thanks for surviving the long journey....So, yeah, the more you know.
At the same time, French settlers, having crossed the ocean and arrived in Canada with explorer Samuel de Champlain, in 1604 onwards also held huge feasts of thanks.
"Historians have also recorded other ceremonies of thanks among European settlers in North America, including British colonists in Berkeley Plantation, Virginia. At this site near the Charles River in December of 1619, a group of British settlers led by Captain John Woodlief knelt in prayer and pledged 'Thanksgiving' to God for their healthy arrival after a long voyage across the Atlantic. This event has been acknowledged by some scholars and writers as the official first Thanksgiving among European settlers on record. Whether at Plymouth, Berkeley Plantation, or throughout the Americas, celebrations of thanks have held great meaning and importance over time. The legacy of thanks, and particularly of the feast, have survived the centuries as people throughout the United States gather family, friends, and enormous amounts of food for their yearly Thanksgiving meal."posted by ericb at 1:08 PM on November 27, 2009 [4 favorites]
posted by orange swan at 9:47 AM on November 26, 2009 [17 favorites]