Washington’s Thanksgiving

Summary

History Daily – "Washington’s Thanksgiving"

Date: November 26, 2025
Host: Lindsay Graham
Podcast: History Daily
Episode Theme:
This episode explores the origins of the first national Thanksgiving in 1789, proclaimed by President George Washington. It examines the historical context of the holiday’s inception—set against post-Revolutionary discord, the formation of the U.S. Constitution, and early attempts to unify a divided nation—and traces how Thanksgiving eventually became a national tradition through Abraham Lincoln’s leadership during the Civil War.

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Main Theme and Purpose

• The episode investigates how George Washington attempted to use a national day of Thanksgiving to unify the fledgling nation after years of turmoil, rebellion, and political strife.
• It details the political debates over creating such a holiday, the social conditions of the time, and how Thanksgiving ultimately evolved into a cornerstone American tradition decades later.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Shays’ Rebellion and the Need for Unity

(00:00 – 03:55)

• Opens with a vivid retelling of Shays’ Rebellion in 1787, highlighting the fragility of the young republic—American veterans, led by Daniel Shays, rise up against harsh economic conditions.

  • “[Washington’s] search for unity will eventually lead him to inaugurate a very Special Holiday on November 26, 1789.” (03:50, Lindsay Graham)

• The conflict and its aftermath alarm Washington and shape his sense of duty to prevent further division.

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2. Washington’s Reluctant Presidency

(05:30 – 10:00)

• April 1789: Washington travels from Mount Vernon to New York for his inauguration as the first U.S. president. Despite public adoration, he feels foreboding about the enormity of the task:

  • “Washington feels like a man heading for the gallows. He wants to stay home and enjoy retirement. But the divided country needs a strong leader to bring its people together.” (06:06, Lindsay Graham)

• Encounters with cheering citizens offer him hope that unity might be achieved, but he recognizes he cannot accomplish this alone.

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3. The Push for a National Thanksgiving

(10:00 – 11:14 and 14:07 – 18:00)

• September 1789: Washington meets Congressmen, who, led by Elias Boudinot of New Jersey, propose a national day of Thanksgiving. Washington sees merit in a unifying holiday.

  • Thanksgiving traditions existed at colonial and local levels, but not yet as a national event.
  • “Washington gives the Congressman his nod to proceed.” (09:45, Lindsay Graham)

• Congressman Thomas Tudor Tucker, an anti-Federalist from South Carolina, opposes the motion, challenging both the government’s authority to impose religious observance and the celebration of a still-contentious Constitution:

  • “‘Why should the President direct the people to do what perhaps they have no mind to do?’” (15:10, paraphrased from Lindsay Graham)
  • Tucker’s opposition is overridden—Boudinot’s resolution passes Congress and is approved by the Senate.

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4. Thanksgiving Day, 1789

(18:00 – 20:00)

• November 26, 1789: Washington, dressed in formal black velvet, attends St. Paul’s Chapel in New York for Thanksgiving services.

  • Despite promotion in the newspapers, poor weather keeps most people home, and the church is nearly empty.
  • “Washington’s steps echo as he takes his usual pew in the nearly deserted church... The disappointed president will abandon any ideas he had of making Thanksgiving an annual celebration.” (19:40, Lindsay Graham)

• The initial attempt to institutionalize Thanksgiving fails to gain tradition. Another 74 years would pass before another president would try.

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5. Thanksgiving and Abraham Lincoln

(21:00 – 25:00)

• 1863: During the Civil War, Lincoln receives a letter from Sarah Josepha Hale, urging for a uniform, national Thanksgiving holiday.

  • Thanksgiving observance was patchy—some states observed, others did not, and dates varied.
  • Hale writes:

    “You may have observed that for some years past, there has been an increasing interest felt in our land to have the Thanksgiving held on the same day in all the states. It now needs national recognition and authoritative fixation only to become permanently an American custom and institution.” (23:10, quoted by Lindsay Graham)

  • Lincoln responds swiftly.

    “[Lincoln] encouraged people in every part of the United States to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and prayer to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.” (24:10, Lindsay Graham)

• Lincoln’s proclamation (October 3, 1863) cements Thanksgiving as a lasting national tradition, rooted in both unity and hope amid division and loss.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Quote | Speaker | | --------- | ----- | ------- | | 03:50 | “Washington’s search for unity will eventually lead him to inaugurate a very Special Holiday on November 26, 1789.” | Lindsay Graham | | 06:06 | “Washington feels like a man heading for the gallows. He wants to stay home and enjoy retirement. But the divided country needs a strong leader to bring its people together.” | Lindsay Graham | | 15:10 | “Why should the President direct the people to do what perhaps they have no mind to do?” | Thomas Tudor Tucker (as related by Lindsay Graham) | | 19:40 | “Washington’s steps echo as he takes his usual pew in the nearly deserted church... The disappointed president will abandon any ideas he had of making Thanksgiving an annual celebration.” | Lindsay Graham | | 23:10 | “You may have observed that for some years past, there has been an increasing interest felt in our land to have the Thanksgiving held on the same day in all the states. It now needs national recognition and authoritative fixation only to become permanently an American custom and institution.” | Sarah Josepha Hale (quoted) | | 24:10 | “[Lincoln] encouraged people in every part of the United States to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and prayer to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.” | Lindsay Graham |

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Important Segment Timestamps

• 00:00 – 03:55 – Shays’ Rebellion sets the stage for Washington’s quest for unity
• 05:30 – 10:00 – Washington’s inaugural journey & emotional state
• 10:00 – 11:14 – Congress proposes a national day of Thanksgiving
• 14:07 – 18:00 – Congressional debate and passage of the Thanksgiving motion
• 18:00 – 20:00 – Thanksgiving Day, 1789: Washington’s experience in New York
• 21:00 – 25:00 – Thanksgiving revisited by Lincoln and established as a national tradition

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Overall Tone and Style

• Immersive and narrative-driven, the episode brings history to life with dramatic detail, period context, and reflections on leadership and unity.
• Lindsay Graham maintains a reverent, measured storytelling tone, occasionally voicing the anxieties or hopes of his historical subjects.

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Summary Takeaways

• The first national Thanksgiving in 1789 was born from Washington’s desire to heal post-revolutionary divisions but failed to take hold as a true recurring tradition.
• Deep divisions—over the Constitution, the role of government, and religion—framed both the call for a special day and the resistance to it.
• Only in 1863, under Lincoln and amid Civil War, did Thanksgiving find renewed purpose and become the unifying American holiday we know today.
• The episode emphasizes how national traditions often arise from moments of deep conflict—but also from determined hopes for unity.

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Transcript

[A]

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[A]

From Noiser and airship. I'm Lindsey Graham and this is History Daily. History is made every day on this podcast. Every day, we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world. Today is November 26, 1789. Washington's Thanksgiving. It's April 16, 1789, six months before Thanksgiving, and George Washington is on his way to New York. The old general's carriage shudders over a country road. He left Mount Vernon this morning for the 200 mile journey to the Capitol. Washington is on his way to be inaugurated as America's first president. But he's not celebrating his election. Washington feels like a man heading for the gallows. He wants to stay home and enjoy retirement. But the divided country needs a strong leader to bring its people together. And Washington answered the call. With him in the carriage are two old friends. Colonel David Humphries is so trusted by Washington that he is writing the General's biography. The other man on the journey is Charles Thompson, Secretary of the Continental Congress. It was Thompson who brought the news to Washington. The news that he had been expecting and dreading. That he had been chosen unanimously by the Electoral College to be the first President of the United States. Washington knows he has a difficult task ahead. The years since his hard won victory over the British have been marked by discord. The constitutional convention of 1787 exposed some deep rooted political divides in America between two growing political the Federalists, who support a strong central government, and the anti Federalists who favor the rights of the individual states. The new Constitution brokered between these two groups may bring about a coherent, effective national government. But the success or failure of that government is still far from certain. All hope rests on the old general who feels every one of his 57 years. Thoughts of despair and apprehension hang around Washington like chains. He sits silent, his eyes fixed on a dark and distant forest off to the west. Then, for the first time in hours, Humphrey speaks. Sir, look. Washington lifts his eyes from the horizon. He sees a mass of people gathering in the road ahead. For a moment, an old fear rushes through him, one of ambush, of attack. But these people are not the enemy. They're residents of a nearby village and they've come to cheer for their new president, the hero of the Revolution. And for the first time in weeks, Washington feels those chains of dread loosen. Throughout the long journey from Mount Vernon to his inauguration in New York, Washington will be greeted by throngs of well wishers and adoring citizens. And long after his inauguration, Washington will look back on this journey and recollect the men, women, and children from Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and every town and village in between who came out to cheer him. It helps Washington believe that unifying America is possible. But he also knows he cannot do it alone. It's September 1789. At the President's House at number 3 Cherry Street, New York, George Washington is meeting with a group of congressmen. The first Congress of the United States is about to take a much deserved break. In just six hectic months, Congress has implemented the new Constitution and built a national government from scratch. But there is one more matter these men wish to discuss before the recess. The Congressman, led by Representative Elias Boudinot from New Jersey, have an idea they think the President will like. A national day of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving celebrations are nothing new. As early as 1607, English colonists in Maine assembled for a harvest feast and prayer meeting with the Abenaki Indians. And famously in 1621, there was the celebration at Plymouth when the Pilgrims who had come across the Atlantic on the Mayflower, held a harvest feast and invited the local Wampanoag tribe to join them. These events were opportunities for colonists to break bread with Native American tribesmen in the celebration of peace and in hope of prosperity. But today, Representative Boudinot and his colleagues are proposing something different. The first official national day of thanksgiving under the new constitution. Washington listens carefully to the Congressman's proposal. The idea is not new to him. As general he he declared a Thanksgiving in December of 1777, one to honor victory over the British in Saratoga. And just this summer, in a letter to an advisor, Washington himself floated the possibility of an official Thanksgiving holiday. But today, Washington sees the idea with fresh eyes. Thinking of it as a chance to bring a divided people together, Washington gives the Congressman his nod to proceed. So on September 25th, Representative Boudinot introduces a resolution in Congress calling on the President to proclaim a national day of public thanksgiving and prayer. But this seemingly innocuous proposal will not go unopposed. Instead, it will become the latest skirmish in a long running battle to determine the future of the nation.

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It's September 25, 1789, two months before the first national Thanksgiving and the United States Congress is meeting at Federal hall in New York. It was on the Balcony here five months earlier that George Washington was inaugurated president. Congress has been busy since it created the Department of State, the Department of War and the Department of the Treasury. A well earned break is due. But there is still this one last piece of business to discuss the National Day of Thanksgiving. Moments ago, Congressman Elias Boudinot introduced his Thanksgiving motion. But not everyone supports the the idea. Congressman Thomas Tudor Tucker wants no part of it. The 44 year old will one day be appointed US Treasurer by President Thomas Jefferson. But today he represents the 5th district of South Carolina. Tucker is an anti Federalist and strongly opposed the ratification of the Constitution and the strong central government envisioned in the document. So after the Constitution was adopted, Tucker and his anti federalist colleagues worked hard to amend it. They sought guarantees of personal rights and strict limitations on governmental power. They wanted to make it clear that any power not specifically granted to the federal government was reserved for the states. Ultimately, after months of heated debate, just yesterday the Bill of Rights was passed. But tensions are still high. So at the first opportunity Tucker takes to his feet, he asks his colleagues why should the President direct the people to do what perhaps they have no mind to do? Boudinot's resolution calls for the public to acknowledge the many signal favors of Almighty God, most especially the new Constitution. But Tucker insists the people may have reason to be dissatisfied with the effects the Constitution has already produced. In Tucker's mind, the government has no business insisting the people observe any religious practice, as the Bill of Rights plainly states on the floor of the hall. Tucker speaks with eloquence and passion. But he and the anti Federalists are outnumbered in Congress. They do not have the votes to stop the motion. Boudinot's resolution will pass the House and then head to the Senate where three days later it will be approved. On October 3rd, the first national Thanksgiving will be proclaimed by President Washington a few weeks later. It's Thursday, November 26, 1789. Thanksgiving Day. The wind muscling in off the sea shunts its way down the narrow streets of New York. Rain slaps against the windows of the President's carriage. George Washington, dressed in his finest black velvet suit, peers out. There are no crowds of people today anxious for a glimpse of their president. The foul weather has emptied the streets, but it has not soured Washington's mood. The proclamation of Thanksgiving has been printed in newspapers across the land. Washington is told the people are embracing the day, an occasion to celebrate and pray. President is looking forward to joining them. The last six months have gone well, but Washington knows that founding the institutions of government is only part of the work needed to build a country. If this American experiment is to succeed, Washington feels he must engage the citizens directly. He cannot retreat behind the walls of his residence or become ensnared by the wrangling of Congress. Washington must embrace the people. He must be with the people. The journey from his residence, the four story mansion on Cherry street, to St. Paul's Chapel is not a long one. Just a mile. So soon? With a jolt, the carriage stops. Washington adjusts his gloves and powdered wig. The service of thanksgiving is about to begin, and Washington is eager to share it with the people inside the church. A blast of wind greets him as he steps out of the carriage and he hurries under the portico into the sudden sheltered quiet of the chapel to find that hardly anyone has come. Washington's steps echo as he takes his usual pew in the nearly deserted church. Moments later, the service begins. The disappointed president will abandon any ideas he had of making Thanksgiving an annual celebration. He will have to find other ways of unifying his country. So it will be another 74 years before an American president tries to establish an annual day of thanksgiving. And it will come at a moment when the nation is once again divided, but this time by civil war. It's the summer of 1863. Over 70 years have passed since George Washington's first national day of thanksgiving. President Abraham Lincoln sits in the White House, a smile stretched across his face. He's just learned of a great Union victory at the battle of of Gettysburg. The Civil War started in the spring of 1861 after decades of tension between the northern and southern states over the issue of slavery. And after months of devastating losses, Gettysburg is a much needed win for the Union. Lincoln believes this victory will turn the tide of the war against the Confederacy. But Lincoln knows it came at a tremendous cost. Some 50,000 soldiers were injured or killed in the battle. With this dear victory in mind, President Abraham Lincoln hopes to unite his people. And soon he will receive an unexpected letter that will give him an opportunity to do just that. On September 28, 1863, Lincoln received a letter from a 74 year old magazine editor named Sarah Josepha Hale. In the letter, Hale urges Lincoln to make the day of our annual Thanksgiving a national and fixed Union holiday. Since the days of George Washington, Thanksgiving has not been a proper national holiday. Some states scheduled their own thanksgivings at different times. Other states didn't celebrate the holiday at all. But in the letter, Hale writes, you may have observed that for some years past, there has been an increasing interest felt in our land to have the Thanksgiving held on the same day in all the states. It now needs national recognition and authoritative fixation only to become permanently an American custom and institution. Sarah Josepha Hale has been advocating for a national Thanksgiving holiday for 15 years, writing editorials urging Americans to put aside sectional feelings and local incidents. She's written to numerous past presidents, but none wrote her back until Lincoln. He responds immediately and within a week, Lincoln issues his Thanksgiving Proclamation. In the Thanksgiving Address, which was issued on October 3, 1863, Lincoln encouraged people in every part of the United States to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and prayer to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. Thanksgiving has been celebrated in the United States ever since. This quintessentially American holiday has its origins in bitter division and conflict, but also in hope. In his address, Lincoln also expressed his belief that God's almighty hand would heal the wounds of the nation and restore it to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union. It was a sentiment that Lincoln's predecessor, George Washington, would have recognized when he introduced The United States first day of Thanksgiving on November 26, 1789. Next on History Daily November 27, 1895 A year before his death, Swedish chemist and inventor Alfred Nobel amends his will to establish the Nobel Prize. From Noiser and Airship. This is History Daily Hosted, edited and executive produced by me, Lindsey Graham Audio editing by Molly Bach Music and sound design by Lindsey Graham. This episode is written and researched by William Simpson. Executive producers are Steven Walters for Airship and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.