Our Thanksgiving holiday began as a celebration of American independence and preservation of the U.S.

By Dan Starks

The True Meaning of Thanksgiving

What does Thanksgiving have to do with Honoring American Freedom? Everything! Yes, Europeans, Native Americans, and other cultures held harvest festivals and days of thanksgiving for various events, but the first truly American Thanksgiving was proclaimed by the Continental Congress November 1, 1777 to give thanks for the American victory over the British at the battle of Saratoga on October 17, 1777. This first American Thanksgiving was celebrated December 18, 1777.

Congress did not proclaim another day of Thanksgiving until 1782 after the British House of Commons voted to end the Revolutionary War. This second American Thanksgiving was celebrated November 28 that year.

The third American Thanksgiving was declared by Presidential proclamation issued October 3, 1789 to be held Thursday, November 26. This Thanksgiving was to thank God for the creation of the U.S. under the new U.S. Constitution that became effective that year.

Between 1789 and 1863, there was no American national day of Thanksgiving. Then on October 3, 1863, following the Union victories over the Confederacy at Vicksburg and Gettysburg several months earlier, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving for the nation to heal its wounds and restore "peace, harmony, tranquility and Union". Thanksgiving has been celebrated every year since then, becoming a national holiday by act of Congress in 1870.

Our Thanksgiving holiday began as a celebration of American independence and preservation of the U.S. What happened? Let's take Thanksgiving back to its roots and use it again today to unite Americans and Honor American Freedom.