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Show 1 ORIGIN OF THANKSGIVINGl i Thanksgiving- day in the United States of America is a festival held annually to offer thanks to Providence for bounties received during: the year. It is now held to be a legal holiday, and is fixed by proclamation of the President and State Governors. It was in 1789 that the Episcopal church recognized the authority of the Government to appoint such a feast, and in 1883 the Roman Catholic church decided to publicly observe the occasion which had received such universal appro-al throughout the land. In the New England States the day is honored with greater xest than in any other section of the country; it is held to be the national 'Tamlly reunion day." d It was the Pilgrim Fathers who first kept Thanksgiving; day, and this observance took place in Plymouth in 1621 In the form of a "harvest to home festival." It was In gratitude to their Maker for the blessings be- ( stowed upon them that they devoted the day "to feast and prayer. This custom they followed annually. ) Congress advised days of thanksgiving each year during the Revo- lutlonary war. and in 17S3 George Washington appointed such a day In honor of the adoption of the Constitution, and again- In 1795 for the general welfare of the Nation. " New York has annually observed the festival since 1817, and since 1S63 the Presidents have each year issued proclamations naming the lat Thursday in November as Thanksgiving day. |