HOW AMERICANS GOT THANKSGIVING

   The Pilgrims�?harvest feast was not repeated until 1623, when, during a severe drought, they gathered together at the Plimoth Meeting House, praying for rain. When a long, steady, soaking rain arrived the very next day, Governor William Bradford proclaimed another day of thanksgiving, again inviting their Indian friends.

It wasn't until June of 1676 that another day of thanksgiving was proclaimed, this one taking place in Charlestown, Massachusetts. This thanksgiving celebration likely did not include the Indians, as it was declared to be a celebration of the colonists' recent victory over the "heathen natives."

December of 1777 marked the first time that all 13 American colonies joined in a simultaneous thanksgiving celebration, commemorating the American victory over the British at Saratoga.

George Washington proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving in 1789. Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson scoffed at the idea of having a day of thanksgiving, stating it infringed upon the separation of church and state with its religious overtones.

It was Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor, whose efforts eventually led to what we now celebrate as Thanksgiving. She wrote many editorials championing her cause in her Boston Ladies' Magazine and Godey's Lady's Book. Finally, after a lengthy campaign of forty years�?duration, writing editorials and letters to governors and presidents, in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a National Day of Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving has been proclaimed yearly by every president since. The date was changed a couple of times, most recently by President Franklin DelanoRoosevelt, who made it the third Thursday in order to create a longer Christmas shopping season for retailers. There was a public uproar against this changing of tradition.

Finally, in 1941, Thanksgiving was sanctioned by Congress as a legal holiday, always falling upon the fourth Thursday in November.

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