The Politics of Thanksgiving
Once upon a time in America we had two Thanksgivings-- a Republican Thanksgiving and a Democratic Thanksgiving. Of course, on two different days.. For those of us who take our Day of Thanks as a given, this US national holiday has a political history. Oh, yes...we didn't always agree on everything like we do nowadays. Most of us know the history of American tradition: early English settlers shared their autumn bounty with friendly native Americans in the 1620s. A harvest festival. But who remembers that in 1789 it was George Washington himself, in the very first presidential proclamation ever, who called for a day to nationalize the tradition, calling for Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November? Washington's Thanksgiving nearly caused a revolt. Members of Congress (who were as cooperative and forward thinking back then as they are now) objected. Their argument: the president does not have that authority over the states. You can imagine ...