Abraham Lincoln issued America’s first Thanksgiving proclamation in a time of violence. The year was 1863, and the president found it appropriate to give thanks even though America was torn by ...

Many presidents ignored Hale's letters, but President Lincoln did not. His October 3rd, 1863 Thanksgiving proclamation read, "In the midst of a civil war of unequal magnitude and severity ...

It took the trauma of the Civil War to make Thanksgiving a formal, annual holiday. Lincoln issued his proclamation on Oct. 3, 1863, three months after Union Army victories at Gettysburg and ...

Thanksgiving became regularly celebrated on the last Thursday in November starting in 1863 with a proclamation from President Abraham Lincoln. The last Thursday in November fell on the last day of ...