Next week Americans will celebrate Thanksgiving, a popular holiday often associated with gratitude, family gatherings, and lavish meals. While Thanksgiving did not become a national holiday until a 1863 proclamation by Abraham Lincoln, and was not set to its current date until 1942 [1], the concept of a day of Thanksgiving long predates that and this Revolutionary War era document offers a fascinating example of this.

It’s likely impossible to strictly establish the origins of Thanksgiving but it appears to have its roots in both the ancient concept of harvest festivals and in the 16th century English Reformation, when there was a movement to replace the calendar of Catholic holidays with Days of Fasting and Days of Thanksgiving, to be declared by the church in response to events believed to show God’s judgment or providence respectively. This tradition was carried on in the North American colonies, with a number of Thanksgiving celebrations being declared by religious or political leaders.

Handwritten by Georg Neisser and dated November 12, 1777, this is a translation into German of a proclamation calling for Pennsylvanians to make December 18th a day of Thanksgiving and is in our holdings from First Moravian Church in York, Pennsylvania. It was issued by the Executive Council of the Republic of Pennsylvania and its first president Thomas Wharton Jr. (1735-1778) [2], in response to a November 1, 1777 proclamation from the Continental Congress, which at the time was also in York, Pennsylvania. This initial proclamation can be read here and was made after the Battles of Saratoga on September 19 and October 7, victories over the British that were a turning point in the Revolutionary War. It called not for a celebration but rather a solemn occasion for people to give thanks to God and pray for success in the war and the future of the nation. Though the connection to the modern holiday may be indirect, this was the first Thanksgiving officially declared by the new nation.

Further Reading:

Massachusetts. General Court. Council. In Congress. November 1, . Forasmuch as it is the indispensible duty of all men to adore the superintending providence of Almighty God, to acknowledge with gratitude their obligations to Him for benefits received … Boston: Printed by John. Boston, 1777. Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/2020775003/.

[1] Initially Thanksgiving was the last Thursday in November, under Franklin Delano Rossevelt it was moved  to the next to last Thursday and finally to the current third Thursday of the month, in effort to boost the economy with a longer Christmas shopping season.
[2] He is now considered to be the first governor of Pennsylvania, the title having been changed in the 1790 state constitution.