Thanksgiving is the quintessential American holiday: invented in New England, proclaimed by George Washington, stamped into our national calendar by Abraham Lincoln, and celebrated with prayer, turkey, stuffing, love, laughter, and gratitude across this vast country of ornery and sometimes deeply divided people.

Everyone knows the story of New England pilgrims sitting down with Native Americans to celebrate a successful harvest, often described as the first Thanksgiving. It was a thanksgiving harvest festival but not yet Thanksgiving . The New England Puritans held many days of thanksgiving at various times—as well as official fast days—in the decades that followed, but there was no consensus or regular practice for years.

In 1789 George Washington issued the first Thanksgiving proclam

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