History Of Thanksgiving
Cool, here’s a more in-depth look at the history of Thanksgiving — how it evolved, some of the lesser-known facts, and how it became what we celebrate today.
Thanksgiving didn’t start as a clean, one-time “Pilgrims and Native Americans sit down for turkey” story. Sure, there was that 1621 harvest feast between the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag people — but the reality of that gathering was more complex. The colonists probably hunted duck or geese, and the Wampanoag likely brought venison. That 1621 event was more of a multi-day harvest festival than a fixed holiday.
Over the following centuries, different colonies and states held days of “thanksgiving”—usually as religious days of prayer, often when something major happened (like a drought ending or a war victory). These weren’t uniform: different places celebrated on different days.
The idea of a national, annual Thanksgiving really took off thanks to **Sarah Josepha Hale**, an editor and writer. For decades she pushed for a unified national holiday — writing letters, editorials, and generally campaigning. Her persistence paid off when **Abraham Lincoln**, in the middle of the Civil War, proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863 (on the last Thursday of November) to help bring the country together.
After Lincoln, presidents continued to issue Thanksgiving proclamations almost every year, but the exact date bounced around a little. Then, in the 20th century, **Franklin D. Roosevelt** caused a stir: in 1939, he moved Thanksgiving earlier — to give Americans more time to shop before Christmas. Many people weren’t thrilled (“Franksgiving,” anyone?), and states were split on which date to follow. Eventually, in 1941, Congress passed a law officially fixing Thanksgiving on the **fourth Thursday in November**.
As Thanksgiving evolved, so did its traditions. Over time it became less about strictly religious observance and more about family, food, and gratitude. Things like parades and football games became tied to the holiday. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, for example, started in the 1920s and became a huge national tradition.
Finally, there are modern traditions too: things like volunteering, food drives, and even the presidential “turkey pardon” — where a live turkey is spared from being eaten.
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