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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.
