Thanksgiving as an Official American Holiday Had a Controversial Beginning in 1789

Thanksgiving has long been our nation's favorite holiday and one which is unique to Americans.

Today is a day for family gatherings, a day for giving thanks for our many blessings and a day when we can each reflect on just how lucky we are to be Americans.

{NOTE: Of course, it's a day for overeating and watching football on TV, too. And this year the 'sport' of early Christmas shopping Thanksgiving night will be getting a fair trial as well.}

So let's study Thanksgiving Day's history and how this special All-American holiday began. It wasn't easy.

The editorial Thanksgiving, 1789 is subtitled 'George Washington's proclamation was not without controversy:'

"It is hard to imagine America's favorite holiday as a source of political controversy. But that was the case in 1789, the year of our first Thanksgiving as a nation.

The controversy began on Sept. 25 in New York City, then the seat of government. The inaugural session of the first Congress was about to recess when Rep. Elias Boudinot of New Jersey rose to introduce a resolution. He asked the House to create a joint committee with the Senate to "wait upon the President of the United States, to request that he would recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the many signal favors of Almighty God."

The congressman made special reference to the Constitution, which had been ratified by the requisite two-thirds of the states in 1788. A day of public thanksgiving, he believed, would allow Americans to express gratitude to God for the "opportunity peaceably to establish a Constitution of government for their safety and happiness."

Boudinot's resolution sparked a vigorous debate. Rep. Aedanus Burke of South Carolina objected on the grounds that a Thanksgiving was too European. He "did not like this mimicking of European customs, where they made a mere mockery of thanksgivings."

Rep. Thomas Tudor Tucker, also of South Carolina, raised two further objections. "Why should the President direct the people to do what, perhaps, they have no mind to do?" he asked. "If a day of thanksgiving must take place," he said, "let it be done by the authority of the several States."

Tucker's second reservation had to do with separation of church and state. Proclaiming a day of Thanksgiving "is a religious matter," he said, "and, as such, proscribed to us." The Bill of Rights would not be ratified until 1791—but Congress had just approved the wording of First Amendment, and that debate was fresh in everyone's mind.

It fell to a New Englander to stand up in support of Thanksgiving. Connecticut's Roger Sherman praised Boudinot's resolution as "a laudable one in itself." It also was "warranted by a number of precedents" in the Bible, he said, "for instance the solemn thanksgivings and rejoicings which took place in the time of Solomon, after the building of the temple."

In the end, the Thanksgiving resolution passed—the precise vote is not recorded—and the House appointed a committee. The resolution moved to the Senate, which passed it and added its own members to the committee.

The committee took the resolution to the president, and on Oct. 3 George Washington issued his now-famous Thanksgiving Proclamation. In it, he designated Thursday, Nov. 26, 1789 as "a day of public thanksgiving and prayer." He asked Americans to render their "sincere and humble thanks" to God for "his kind care and protection of the People of this Country."

It was his first presidential proclamation, and it was well heeded. According to the "Papers of George Washington," compiled by the University of Virginia, Thanksgiving Day was "widely celebrated throughout the nation." Newspapers around the country published the proclamation and announced plans for public functions in honor of the day. Religious services were held, and churches solicited donations for the poor. . . .

Thanksgiving feasts in New England at the time of the nation's founding were similar to those today....Turkey and pumpkin pie were on the menu, along with venison pie, roast goose, roast pork, butternut squash, creamed onions, pottage of cabbage, onions and leeks, and Indian pudding, made from cornmeal and spices. . . .

Washington was keenly aware of his role as a model for future presidents. He once remarked that "There is scarcely any part of my conduct which may not be hereafter drawn into precedent." That included his Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789, which set the standard for Thanksgiving Proclamations by future presidents, a list that included James Madison, Abraham Lincoln, and then every president up to the present day.

The tradition begun by George Washington has survived without further controversy. Since the original debate in the House in September 1789, no member of Congress has complained that Thanksgiving proclamations are too European, a violation of the separation of church and state or, most especially, not what the American people want."

SUMMING UP

From that beginning in 1789 to today, our Thanksgiving Day has remained a special one.

And as our country's governing document, the U.S. Constitution still endures as the world's longest surviving constitution.

That's quite a feat for any self governing society and compelling evidence testifying to the meaning of American Exceptionalism.

Do we still have problems to solve as a society? Of course, we do. Lots of them.

We've never had a shortage of problems to solve, and in that regard, this Thanksgiving Day is no different from the previous 233 Thanksgiving Days.

But will we solve them? Yes, we will. And then there will be new ones to solve.

As a special self governing nation of free individuals acting in concert, We the People will be able to accomplish the seemingly impossible.

We always have and we always will.

Happy Thanksgiving. Bob.