Why is Thanksgiving on a Thursday Every Year
Since the beginning of most our life times, Thanksgiving has always been celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. Why does it have to be on this day? Who made the rule that Thanksgiving should always fall on a Thursday? Does it follow a specific pattern? OneHowTo.com is here to tell you exactly why it falls on Thursday.
The First Thanksgivings
Even though it is not documented, it is said that the Pilgrims of Plymouth County may have celebrated their first Thanksgiving in 1621 on a Thursday. Although there is little evidence of this celebration. There is also record that the Thanksgiving they had in 1623 was in July. A Thanksgiving in the summer time seems odd to us these days. One of the first documented Thanksgivings was held in Massachusetts on June 29, 1676 on a Monday. With all of this information, who decided it would be in November on a Thursday?
Washington and Lincoln
When George Washington was in office, Thanksgiving was being celebrated on Thursdays in November. In 1777, the Continental Congress actually declared Thanksgiving to be a national holiday in America. They are part of the reason that it was celebrated on Thursdays in November. Since 1863, they were rotated to different Thursdays, but there was never an official rule in place.
Lincoln made it a point to tell the American people that even though the Civil War was destroying the country, it was truly important to give thanks for all of the good that they had in lives despite the war going on around them.
Roosevelt's Final Decision
In 1941, Franklin Roosevelt signed an official resolution to change the day of Thanksgiving. It was the last Thursday in November, but he wanted to make it the fourth Thursday in November. The day was changed in order to give Americans more shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
So there you have the story behind why Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday. Next, why not read up about how you can have a vegan thanksgiving?
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