Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Happy Thanksgiving

I think Lincoln was unifying the nation by superceding state Thanksgiving days with a national one. Virginia had a Thanksgiving in 1619, before the Massachusetts one that figures in the US's historical myth of Thanksgiving. And there were sporadic, impermanent national Thanksgivings in the years between. 

Christmas also became a national holiday as a result of the Civil War. Before then some states didn't celebrate it. 

Thanks for remembering that this national holiday really goes back to Lincoln and the Civil War. Have a happy one. 

On Nov 25, 2024, at 03:47, 'Biko Agozino' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> wrote:

It is Thanksgiving week. It was first proclaimed as a public holiday by Lincoln in 1863 soon after the emancipation proclamation to end slavery and mobilize over two hundred thousand African Americans to help defend the Union. Was Lincoln thanking the Africans for helping to save the Union? Happy Thanksgiving, What are you thankful for this year?

Biko

— 

John Edward Philips, Professor Emeritus 

International Society, College of Humanities, Hirosaki University

"Homo sum; humani nihil a me alienum puto." -Terentius Afer

<https://boydellandbrewer.com/9781580462563/writing-african-history/>

<https://hirosaki-u.academia.edu/JohnPhilipsHirosaki>