Most Americans have heard the story of the first Thanksgiving. After surviving a difficult year in the New World, the Pilgrims celebrated a successful harvest by sharing a feast with their Native American neighbors. But, the history of Thanksgiving is more complex. Celebrating the harvest reflects old world customs, and many communities continued the tradition throughout the colonial period. In the nation's early years, George Washington twice declared days of thanksgiving, but they were one-time events. John Adams proposed the establishment of an annual holiday in May, while Thomas Jefferson believed that giving thanks was a religious and personal, not government, affair.

Although some states, particularly in the northeast, celebrated a day of thanksgiving in the intervening years, Thanksgiving was not declared a national holiday until 1863. For years, Sara Josepha Hale, a New Hampshire native and editor of Godey's Lady's Book, campaigned for official recognition of a day of thanksgiving, hoping it would unify a nation on the verge of civil war and promote white, Protestant ideals. After the victory at Gettysburg, Lincoln agreed, although he initially recommended an August celebration. Hale and Secretary of State William Seward convinced Lincoln that the holiday should coincide with regional harvest festivals. Once established, Thanksgiving was used to assimilate immigrants and highlight the importance of family.

To learn more about the establishment of Thanksgiving as a national holiday, the roots of its traditions, and the way it has been used to promote American ideals, take a look at the items below. The Journal articles are available through Academic Search Premier, one of our EBSCO databases. To find them, go to our databases page, click on EBSCO and then select Academic Journal Resources. Academic Search Premier is the third database on the list. You can then type (or copy and paste) the title of the article into the search bar. Remember, whenever you enter a phrase or title, enclose the words in parentheses.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Bibliography

Books
Appelbaum, Diana Karter. Thanksgiving: An American Holiday, An American History. New York: Facts on File Publications, 1984.

"Thanksgiving." In The Folklore of American Holidays, edited by Hennig Cohen and Tristram Potter Coffin, 396-420. 2nd ed. Detroit: Gale Research, Inc., 1991.

Articles
Pleck, Elizabeth. "The Making of the Domestic Occasion: The History of Thanksgiving in the United States." Journal of Social History 32, no. 4 (1999): 773. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed November 10, 2006).

Sigal, Lillian. "Thanksgiving: Sacred or Profane Feast?." Mythosphere 1, no. 4 (1999): 451. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed November 10, 2006).

Wills, Anne Blue. "Pilgrims and Progress: How Magazines Made Thanksgiving." Church History 72, no. 1 (2003): 138. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed November 10, 2006).

Wilson, Samuel M. "Pilgrim's paradox." Natural History 100, no. 11 (1991): 22. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed November 10, 2006).