Tracing Thanksgiving History

I’ve always loved Thanksgiving. It brings people together, slows life down, and pulls our attention back to God’s kindness. Every year I end up thinking about Thanksgiving history and how it shaped the way we celebrate today. The story isn’t just about harvest meals and family traditions. It’s about a country learning to name God as the Giver of every good gift.

After living in the United States for a season and learning the history behind the holiday, I was moved to start a tradition. Usually after the pumpkin pie is served, coffee in hand, I read Abraham Lincoln’s Thanksgiving proclamation out loud.

The room always feels still. His words were written during a time when the country was divided and terrible bloodshed touched every family. On the surface, Lincoln was calling for a national holiday, but as you read his words, you sense a heart submitted to God’s authority and provision. He was calling a nation to remember the hand of God in both peace and hardship.

Lincoln’s Call to Gratitude

In 1863, right in the middle of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln set aside the last Thursday of November as a day for the nation to slow down and give thanks to God.

“Washington, D.C., October 3, 1863
By the President of the United States of America. A Proclamation.

‘The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, 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 theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.’

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the Eighty-eighth. By the President: Abraham Lincoln.

William H. Seward, Secretary of State“

This was written long before Thanksgiving was wrapped in warm nostalgia. It was spoken into families experiencing conflict, loss, and uncertainty. Nevertheless, Lincoln pointed his countrymen to the “ever watchful providence of Almighty God,” reminding them that God hadn’t stopped being faithful.

The tonne of this address echoes James instruction to the early church:

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.” (James 1:17)

Lincoln understood that truth. He called the nation to pay attention to God’s gifts when life was full and when life was breaking apart.

Our Canadian Moment

For those of us living further north, our own country had a similar moment, in 1957.

“On Thursday, January 31, 1957, the Parliament of Canada proclaimed: A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed – to be observed on the 2nd Monday in October. (Wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving_(Canada))

Notice the focus, once again, is on God’s provision, a “General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest.” Although not as lengthy, nor as tumultuous a situation as the American Holiday enactment, the Canadian holiday isn’t just about coming together around a meal either. The purpose is for us to turn our eyes upward.

Keeping the Heart of Thanksgiving Alive

A lot of Thanksgiving conversation now circles around sharing, which isn’t wrong, but gratitude should lead the way. Sharing grows from a thankful heart. Gratitude steadies us. It keeps us rooted in who God is, not just what the season feels like.

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise” (Psalm 100:4).

That’s why I keep returning to Lincoln’s proclamation every year. This week we’ll gather as a family, I’ll open it up, and read it again. Then we’ll pray, pulling our hearts back to the One who provides the harvest and the breath in our lungs. We’ll remember that we live in a world held together by God, not by our own strength. We’ll remember the grace that keeps showing up in ways we miss until we slow down.

Making Space for Thanks Today

If you haven’t done it yet this season, pull everyone together. Read Lincoln’s proclamation or read Psalm 100. Pray together. Name the blessings God has placed in your life this year; especially the quiet ones that don’t show up on social media.

As we tell these stories and pray these prayers, we keep Thanksgiving history alive in the best way possible. We remember the God who provides, sustains, forgives, and leads us with a patience far greater than what we deserve. Amen.

Join the Conversation; Answer This Question

• What part of Thanksgiving history helps you slow down and turn your heart back to God?