The roots of Thanksgiving celebrations began when President Washington called for a civic celebration to unify Americans in the shared blessings of freedom in 1789.

He called upon our Creator to “render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed.”

Seven decades later, factional divisions split Americans into Civil War.

In 1863, Lincoln issued a proclamation to celebrate Thanksgiving Day on the last Thursday of November.

For years leading up to President Abraham Lincoln’s proclamation, a prominent author, Sarah Josepha Hale, lobbied for a national day of thanksgiving to unify Americans. She advocated for the holiday to become an “American custom and institution.”

Just a few months following the Battle of Gettysburg, the deadliest battle of the Civil War, President Lincoln signed the proclamation to implore “the Almighty Hand” to help “heal the wounds of the nation.”

Happy Thanksgiving!!🦃🍁