America Gives Thanks

By NPG Intern Aurora Engle-Pratt

Thanksgiving is regarded by many as one of the most quintessentially American of all holidays. Its history dates back before our nation’s independence, to the days of the colonies. It is a day of tradition and family, a time to reflect and remember the past seasons. College kids return home, families gather, and for one day the nation breathes a collective sigh and all give thanks together.

But how did this day grow from one colony’s harvest celebration to a national holiday? Thanksgiving was not celebrated widely until after the Revolutionary War, when it became an unofficial day of praise and thanks tied to the fall harvest. Both Presidents Washington and Madison made Thanksgiving addresses during their terms in office. But it was not until nearly one hundred years later, during one of the darkest periods in the history of the United States, that Thanksgiving as we know it today was born.

On October 3, 1863, during the midst of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday in a moving speech that showcased the best ideals and values of America. In the first lines of his speech, Lincoln said:

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.

Lincoln’s words remind us that even in the worst times we can find much to be thankful for. Lincoln led our country in a time of change and uncertainty, a time when the nation was divided, and yet he still believed that giving thanks and acknowledging our many blessings were important enough exercises to warrant a day devoted to their practice. This Thanksgiving season, as we once again face a time of change and uncertainty, we should take the day to be thankful for our nation, for its “fruitful fields and healthful skies,” for its ideals, and for all the freedoms we enjoy as citizens of the United States of America.

Happy Thanksgiving from the staff of the National Portrait Gallery!

Aurora Engle-Pratt is a student at Montgomery College and an intern for the Catalog of American Portraits, National Portrait Gallery.