A very Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. Thanksgiving is a wonderful tradition to give thanks to friends, family & all who have touched your life in a positive way.
Not many people know how Thanksgiving became a holiday but thanks should be given to Sarah Josepha Hale for the annual holiday tradition. (Sarah was also the author of Mary Had a Little Lame; the children's nursery ryhme.) In 1863, after 40 years of Ms. Hale pursing our government to get a national day of thanks, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a national day of Thanksgiving.
Read her letter to President Lincoln courtesy of the Libary of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm125.html
When most of us think of Thanksgiving, we think of the first Pilgrims and Indians having a wonderful feast together. The Pilgrims who almost did not survive their first winter here, were thankful for the assistance of the Indians for their knowledge of crops. Although, the Pilgrims did not call it 'Thanksgiving', it was a celebration for the success of their harvest.
While I only touch on a brief history of this memorable holiday, there is so much more surrounding Thanksgiving. I will end this post with one more read of the actual Proclamation for Thanksgiving: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/GW/gw004.html
Happy Thanksgiving!
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