In 1830 a woman named Sarah Josepha Hale published one of the most popular nursery rhymes ever written, “Mary Had A Little Lamb”. And while this was a great contribution to American culture some may be surprised to know that her arguably most important contribution came in the form of a one woman letter writing campaign. It was a series of letters that Hale wrote spanning 17 years, letters that would eventually strike a chord with President Abraham Lincoln, which would become the impetus for his 1863 proclamation declaring Thanksgiving Day a national holiday. Hale felt that the 1777 decision that the 13 colonies should each have individual days of thanksgiving during the year wasn’t enough and instead wanted to see the colonies unite in a national day of thanks and remembrance. In the midst of the American Civil War and fresh from a Union victory at the Battle of Gettysburg, President Lincoln saw the potential in such a day and we have celebrated it since. It is worth noting however that it was President Roosevelt who declared the date to be the fourth Thursday each November beginning in 1939 to help bolster the economy which was suffering from the Depression so that people would have a full month to shop for the Christmas holiday.
While the holiday itself is at its core a secular one, many Christians have worked to “reclaim” the day as a spiritual holiday. But the original festivals that brought us many of the traditions of Thanksgiving have Pagan roots, like many of our modern holidays, since the forming traditions in American culture were coming out of long held Pagan European customs that came to the new world with its early settlers.
In American history it is commonly agreed upon that the first Thanksgiving feast, which was called a harvest feast, took place for 3 days in 1621 at Plymouth Plantation. It was a celebration held by the Pilgrims to thank the Wampanoag Indians who helped them to grow and cultivate the crops that they were able to bring in during that year’s harvest since in the previous year many people died in part due to the settlers lack of knowledge of planting and growing in the new land. This “first Thanksgiving” was a day where their Gods were honored, the earth thanked for its bounty and blessings counted as they began to head into the harsh winter season.
Pagan European harvest celebrations such as Harvest Home came to America with the settlers and soon became part of autumn tradition in places like New England. It was a day where communities celebrated the harvest with activities that honored the Lord of the Harvest. Prayers of thanks and songs of celebration were sung as people brought in the last items from the fields before a large community feast would be held.
With the eventual placement of Thanksgiving happening in November and this being close to the end of the harvest likely caused the two to work in tandem, the holiday itself is no more Pagan than it is Christian. While it is hard to deny the Pagan roots of the traditions and customs we have taken on for this day it is truly a secular day that, if you subscribe to a specific spiritual belief, giving thanks also includes giving thanks to your God and/or Goddess.
So as you sit down for your Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow remember that it was the Pagan harvest festivals of Europe, the reverence for the gifts of the earth, and the desire to live to see another spring that made this tradition what it is today.
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