Thanksgiving: A Feast of Gratitude Rooted in History and Heart

Every fourth Thursday of November, Americans gather around tables laden with turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie to celebrate Thanksgiving a holiday that embodies gratitude, family, and resilience. Observed on November 27 in 2025, it traces its roots to a 1621 harvest feast in Plymouth, Massachusetts, where English Pilgrims and Wampanoag Native Americans shared a three day celebration after a successful corn crop. This event, often romanticized as the "First Thanksgiving," highlighted survival skills taught by Wampanoag members like Squanto, who showed the colonists how to plant corn, fish, and harvest maple sap, forging an alliance that lasted decades.​

The path to a national holiday was far from straightforward. Early colonial "days of thanksgiving" were solemn, involving fasting and prayer rather than feasting, proclaimed irregularly by states amid hardships. It took persistent lobbying from magazine editor Sarah Josepha Hale, who wrote nearly 20 letters to presidents over three decades, to push for uniformity. Her efforts culminated in 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln, amid the Civil War's devastation, issued a proclamation designating the last Thursday in November as a day to heal national divides and give thanks for blessings.​

Lincoln's decree set the stage, but tweaks followed. In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt shifted it to the second to last Thursday to extend the Christmas shopping season during the Great Depression, sparking chaos as 16 states resisted, creating dual holidays. Congress resolved it in 1941, locking in the fourth Thursday. Today, traditions like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade kicking off since 1924 with floats, balloons, and bands and the presidential turkey pardon, started by George H.W. Bush in 1989, add spectacle and whimsy.​

Beyond turkey (absent from the original menu due to no ovens) and cranberry sauce inspired by Native methods, Thanksgiving fosters reflection. Families share what they're thankful for, from health to hard won progress, while NFL games and volunteering at food banks weave in community. Yet, the holiday prompts critical conversations: the Wampanoag perspective includes the "National Day of Mourning" since 1970, protesting myths that overshadow Indigenous losses from colonization.​

In a divided world, Thanksgiving endures as a reminder to pause, connect, and express thanks not just for abundance, but for shared humanity. Whether through quiet prayers or lively toasts, it unites generations in appreciating life's simple gifts.