When did Thanksgiving begin?
Quick Answer
American Thanksgiving traces back to a 1621 harvest feast at Plymouth Colony, but it became a national holiday only in 1863, proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln.
The Full Story
In autumn 1621, the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony held a three-day harvest celebration attended by about 90 Wampanoag people and their leader Massasoit. For more than two centuries afterwards, days of thanksgiving were declared locally and irregularly. Writer Sarah Josepha Hale campaigned for years for a national holiday, and in 1863, during the Civil War, Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November as a national day of thanksgiving. In 1939 Franklin Roosevelt moved it a week earlier to lengthen the shopping season, causing controversy. Congress settled the matter in 1941, fixing Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November.
Key Facts
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Suggested video title for this topic:
"When Did Thanksgiving Begin — From Plymouth Feast to National Holiday"