John Wood Jr., Braver Angels Ambassador

Did you know that Thanksgiving really has its origins in America’s deepest period of polarization?

Yes of course there is the story of the first Thanksgiving dinner upon which the holiday is based, when the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag come together in November of 1621 for a shared feast during the Autumn harvest.

But Thanksgiving as a national holiday was first celebrated after the election of 1864, the re-election of Abraham Lincoln.

Several weeks after the battle of Gettysburg on July 1st of 1863, in which more than 7,500 Americans died and scores more were wounded, Lincoln set forth the following proclamation:

“I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States…to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving…And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him …, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union”.

The idea of a Thanksgiving holiday did not originate with Lincoln however.

Sarah Josepha Hale was a poet (the author of Mary Had a Little Lamb in fact) and the editor of the Godey’s Lady’s Book, a publication that had a great impact on American society, through which Hale advocated for the education of women, religious stewardship of the home, and the abolition of slavery among other issues. In addition to these, Hale had (since 1946) argued in these pages and in direct petition to American presidents and politicians for the adoption of Thanksgiving as a national holiday. Hale wrote to Lincoln urging him to do so on September 28th, 1963. Lincoln issued his proclamation five days later.

Thanksgiving then was always a holiday meant to heal the divides of the American people. Even within that context, however, it is fascinating to note that aspects of the holiday still highlighted the divisions that persisted between Americans. Pumpkin pie, which Sarah Josepha Hale encouraged Americans to serve, was not only significant in harkening back to what it was presumed the Pilgrims and Wampanoags may have served in that first dinner. Pumpkin was a crop grown in New England, seldom seen in the south, and came to be thought of as a symbol of the abolitionist movement and of northern values. The adoption of pumpkin pie as a staple of Thanksgiving was also a subtle affirmation of the righteousness of abolition, and a rejection of the slaveholding culture of the south.

Today (as I write these words), my white aunt from Tennessee will likely be serving pumpkin pie as we gather around the table while the African-American side of my family is much more prone towards sweet potato pie (a southern dish, but also one once used to stereotype Black Americans).

The messy threads of American history allow us to detect the evidence of our past divisions even in the midst of our present celebrations. Yet that should only serve as a testament to the power of grace and goodwill to transcend our divides–and to the importance of setting aside time for family and friends to come together and do so.

As we move forward in our mission to bridge the divide between left and right today, let us remember Thanksgiving as more than a meal. It is a part of a grand tradition of laboring for healing and unity in America.

As it was in 1864, so may it be in 2024 as well.