Two more Tuesdays (ten days), till Thanksgiving! Here’s to another Thanksgiving-related fact!
The Thanksgiving that Almost Wasn’t.
Sounds like one of those prime time specials we watched as kids, doesn’t it?
Well, in actuality, Thanksgiving wasn’t always a holiday. In fact, in this snippet from Good Housekeeping, Thomas Jefferson refused to declare Thanksgiving a holiday.
“Presidents originally had to declare it a holiday every year. History (The History Channel website) says Jefferson refused because he strongly believed in the separation of church and state. Since Thanksgiving involved prayer, he thought making it a holiday would violate the First Amendment.”
The formal observance of Thanksgiving began in 1863, proclaimed by Abraham Lincoln in response to the horrors of the Civil War.
To read all about Jefferson and not celebrating Thanksgiving, check out the History Channel article all about his disassociation with the holiday.
Thomas Jefferson’s Complicated Relationship with Thanksgiving (from 2017)
Allison's Written Words
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