Many family fights on Thanksgiving start with politics, interestingly enough the Thanksgiving holiday date, the 4th Thursday of November, has its very own political fight just about which day it should be held on.
On September 28, 1789, just before leaving for recess, the first Federal Congress passed a resolution asking that the President of the United States recommend to the nation a day of thanksgiving. A few days later, President George Washington issued a proclamation naming Thursday, November 26, 1789 as a "Day of Publick Thanksgivin" - the first time Thanksgiving celebrated in the new Nation.
Later presidents all issued Thanksgiving Proclamations of their own, but the dates and even months of the celebrations would be different. Not until President Lincoln in 1863 wrote a Proclamation that Thanksgiving was to be regularly celebrated each year on the last Thursday of November.
In 1939, however, the last Thursday in November fell on the last day of the month. Thinking that the shortened shopping season might slow the economic recovery, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a Presidential Proclamation moving Thanksgiving to the second to last Thursday of November, providing more time to shop. As a result of the proclamation, 32 states issued similar proclamations following the Presidents lead. But 16 states refused to accept the change, taking a stand, and they proclaimed Thanksgiving to remain on the last Thursday in November.
For two years two different days were used to celebrate Thanksgiving in different parts of the country
To put an end to the confusion (and to rescue people forced to celebrate Thanksgiving twice with their in-laws in different states), Congress decided to set a fixed-date for the holiday. On October 6, 1941, the House passed a joint resolution declaring the last Thursday in November to be the legal Thanksgiving Day. The Senate, wanting the last word on the matter, changed the wording of the resolution establishing the holiday as the fourth Thursday, for those years when November has five Thursdays. The House agreed to the amendment, and President Roosevelt signed the resolution on December 26, 1941, cementing the fourth Thursday in November as the Federal Thanksgiving Day holiday.
Photo: https://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/BZVY5QAUTSFNG86
Submitted by Park,Scott on November 29, 2024
This article appears in the categories: Law Library
