A rare holiday for miners reserved for ‘prayin and eatin’
By David Forsyth, PhD
The story of the first Thanksgiving is perhaps one of the best known and most mythical stories in American history, and while its importance is doubted by few, the holiday itself was slow to take hold. Between the time of the American Revolution and the Civil War, each state decided when to mark its own Thanksgiving. By the early 19th century most states had settled on the last Thursday in November for the holiday, but not until 1863 did Abraham Lincoln make it official that Thanksgiving would be celebrated on the last Thursday in November. But, even then, some states, especially those in the south who denied Lincoln’s presidential authority, ignored his declaration and continued to choose their own days for it. Not until the end of Reconstruction in 1877 did every state fall in line with Lincoln’s decision on the date. It remained the final Thursday in November until 1941, when Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a joint Congressional resolution moving the date to the fourth Thursday in November.
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