POLITICS
Use our resources to learn more about this American holiday.
Teachers, scroll down for a quick list of key resources in our Teachers’ Toolkit.
Painting by Rembrandt Peale, courtesy the White House Historical Association
Discussion Ideas
- How did President Thomas Jefferson “cancel” Thanksgiving?
- He didn’t—there was nothing to cancel. Thanksgiving didn’t become an official federal holiday until President Abraham Lincoln made it one in 1863, and President Jefferson served from 1801-1809. Before Lincoln, presidents had to “opt-in” and issue a special proclamation to recognize and celebrate any “days of Thanksgiving.” Jefferson just didn’t issue the special proclamation.
- Why did Jefferson oppose Thanksgiving?
- He didn’t—he opposed government proclamations of thanksgiving.
- Days of thanksgiving were explicitly prayerful events to praise god for political or military victories. Jefferson was a dedicated, staunch supporter of the separation of church and state. In fact, Jefferson is the person who introduced the phrase into American political dialogue in the first place. In his letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in Connecticut, he cites the First Amendment (which, of course, he helped write): “I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;’ thus building a wall of eternal separation between Church & State.”
- The letter to the Danbury Baptists was drafted, in fact, as an opportunity for “saying why I do not proclaim fastings & thanksgivings, as my predecessors did.”
- Days of thanksgiving were explicitly prayerful events to praise god for political or military victories. Jefferson was a dedicated, staunch supporter of the separation of church and state. In fact, Jefferson is the person who introduced the phrase into American political dialogue in the first place. In his letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in Connecticut, he cites the First Amendment (which, of course, he helped write): “I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;’ thus building a wall of eternal separation between Church & State.”
- He didn’t—he opposed government proclamations of thanksgiving.
- Did all Founding Fathers oppose proclamations of Thanksgiving?
- No! As Jefferson said in his letter to the Danbury Baptists, his predecessors (all two of them) issued thanksgiving proclamations. In fact, General George Washington (before he became president) was the first to declare a November thanksgiving feast to celebrate the victory at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777.
- How did Jefferson’s stance on Thanksgiving reflect early America’s really brutal, bare-knuckled-style politics? Read about the weird election of 1800, and this fascinating article about Jefferson, Thanksgiving, and the Danbury Baptists for some help.
- During Jefferson’s presidency, the opposition party (the Federalists) routinely criticized Jefferson and his Republicans of being atheists. (And, according to anti-Republican political cartoons, alcoholics in league with the devil. And France.) “Federalist preachers had routinely used fast and thanksgiving days to revile Jefferson and his followers, going so far in 1799 as to suggest that a Philadelphia yellow fever epidemic was a divine punishment for Republican godlessness.”
- Jefferson, on the other hand, tacitly accused Federalists of being remnants of British monarchy and opening a door to “to the introduction of an ecclesiastical tyranny.” (And, according to anti-Federalist political ads, indulged in “mischief, brothels, funds & banks.” And Broadway.)
- Just looking at the language of Jeffersonian-era thanksgiving, what is the biggest difference between those celebrations and our own?
- The topic is always “fasts and thanksgivings”, “thanksgivings and fasts.” We, ah, don’t fast so much on Thanksgiving these days.
- Finally, back to non-Jeffersonian presidential Thanksgivings. What is a “Franksgiving,” anyway?
- It’s the nickname earned by the altered Thanksgiving calendar of Franklin Roosevelt in 1939 and 1940. Thanksgiving had traditionally been the final week in November, but President Roosevelt moved the holiday back one week to give Depression-struck businesses more retail time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The move didn’t go over well, and Thanksgiving’s official date was set as the fourth Thursday in November in 1941.
TEACHERS’ TOOLKIT
American Profile: Not-So-Traditional Presidential Thanksgivings
Nat Geo: Thanksgiving
Library of Congress: ‘A Wall of Separation’ essay
2 thoughts on “Did Thomas Jefferson Hate Thanksgiving?”