The Growing Push to Abolish Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving has become the subject of growing criticism, with some questioning whether the holiday should be celebrated at all. But are we losing sight of what this day is really about?
There has always been debate about which days we should observe and which celebrations or holidays we should take part in. Thanksgiving is no exception. As Christians, some choose not to celebrate it because they believe it has pagan roots. Now, there is another growing criticism of the holiday, with some calling for it to be abolished altogether.
Much of that criticism centers on the treatment of Native Americans, the history of colonization, and the belief that the traditional Thanksgiving story presents a misleading or overly romanticized account of what happened between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag people. These are not conversations that should simply be brushed aside, and there are historical realities worth examining.
Interestingly, I recently found myself doing some research on Thanksgiving for an entirely different reason. History has always been an interest of mine, and I've even considered starting a history channel. As I began looking into how this American holiday came about, I discovered that its history was much more involved than I had realized. There was far more to it than Abraham Lincoln declaring a national day of Thanksgiving.
The growing criticism of Thanksgiving got me thinking. We can acknowledge the wrongs of the past without pretending they didn't happen. But does that mean we should abolish the holiday?
Thanksgiving's American History Is More Complicated Than We Think
When most Americans think about the beginning of Thanksgiving, they probably picture the Pilgrims and Native Americans gathering together for a harvest feast in 1621. And while that gathering is an important part of the story, it wasn't the establishment of the American holiday we celebrate today.
In fact, we don't know exactly when harvest celebrations first began in America. What we do have is a written account of the 1621 gathering at Plymouth. Edward Winslow, one of the colonists, described the experience in a letter that was later published in Mourt's Relation. William Bradford, who served as governor of Plymouth Colony, also documented the early years of the settlement in his writings.
But Thanksgiving observances in America didn't begin with that one gathering, nor did they happen on the same day each year. Different colonies and communities held days of thanksgiving at different times, often following the harvest. That makes sense when you consider that harvest seasons varied depending on location.
Then there was a woman whose efforts played a major role in bringing Thanksgiving to the nation: Sarah Josepha Hale. An editor and writer, Hale spent years advocating for a national Thanksgiving observance. She believed the country needed a day set aside for gratitude and thanksgiving to God, and she repeatedly wrote to presidents and other leaders urging them to make it happen.
Her efforts eventually reached President Abraham Lincoln, who issued a proclamation in 1863 calling for a national day of Thanksgiving during the Civil War. Although this helped establish the annual observance, the date wasn't permanently fixed by federal law until 1941, when Congress established Thanksgiving as the fourth Thursday in November.
So, while the 1621 gathering is often treated as the beginning of Thanksgiving, the American holiday actually developed through a series of different events, proclamations, and efforts over many years.
And here's something else worth considering. The practice of celebrating a harvest and giving thanks for provision didn't begin with the founding of America. It goes back much further than that.
Giving Thanks Didn't Begin in America
The idea of celebrating the harvest and giving thanks for provision was around long before America became a nation. Many cultures throughout history have held harvest festivals, often incorporating feasting and expressions of gratitude to the deities they worshiped.
In England, for example, there was a tradition known as Harvest Home. It marked the completion of the harvest season and was often celebrated with a communal meal and festivities. It was a way of recognizing the crops gathered and celebrating the work that had gone into bringing them in.
But we don't have to look only at the traditions of other cultures to find the practice of celebrating the harvest. We can go much further back in Scripture. God gave Israel specific feasts and appointed times that included giving thanks for the harvest and recognizing Him as the source of their provision.
Consider a few examples:
- Exodus 23:16 – The Feast of Harvest, also called the Feast of Firstfruits, was observed as the firstfruits of the labor and crops of the field were gathered. The Feast of Ingathering followed at the end of the harvest year.
- Leviticus 23:39–43 – The Feast of Tabernacles was a time of rejoicing after the gathering of the crops. It also reminded the Israelites of how God had brought their ancestors out of Egypt and cared for them in the wilderness.
- Deuteronomy 16:13–15 – During the Feast of Tabernacles, the people were instructed to rejoice before the Lord because He had blessed the work of their hands and provided for them.
These weren't simply celebrations of a successful harvest. They were appointed times for Israel to recognize God's provision, remember His faithfulness, and rejoice in what He had given them. They also brought the community together, including those who might otherwise have been overlooked, such as strangers, widows, and orphans.
These biblical feasts were specific to Israel and aren't the same as the Thanksgiving holiday we celebrate today. But they do show us that the practice of setting aside time to recognize God's provision and give thanks didn't originate in America. It reaches back thousands of years.
Have We Forgotten Who Provides?
Perhaps part of the problem is that we have become so far removed from an agricultural society that we've lost sight of just how much people once depended on the harvest. For generations, food wasn't something you simply picked up at the grocery store. People had to sow, tend, and gather their crops. If the harvest failed, it wasn't just an inconvenience. It could mean hunger, a shortage of food for the winter, or even having to travel elsewhere in search of food.
There were no trucks bringing in food from across the country, no planes delivering supplies, and no nearby supermarket to visit when the pantry ran low. A failed harvest could have devastating consequences. People understood that their food supply was not something they could take for granted.
Today, most of us live very differently. If one grocery store is out of bread, we can drive to another. If we don't feel like going out, we can have groceries delivered right to our door. Unless we take a long drive through the countryside, many of us rarely see the fields where our food begins. We see the finished product on a shelf, neatly packaged and ready to take home.
When We Forget Where Our Provision Comes From
I think somewhere along the way, we can lose sight of where it all comes from. We work for our paychecks, and rightly so. But because we earn the money to buy our food, we can begin to think that we are entirely responsible for having it. We forget the many things beyond our control that make it possible for that food to be there in the first place.
We can plant a seed, but we cannot command the rain or make it grow. We can work hard, but we cannot control every circumstance that affects our provision. Our jobs may provide the money to purchase our food, but they do not make us independent of God.
Acknowledging History Without Losing Sight of What Thanksgiving Means
None of this is to suggest that the wrongs committed against Native Americans should be ignored or that we should overlook the painful chapters of our nation's history. They deserve to be acknowledged and understood. But we also need to be careful not to view all of history through one narrow account, especially when that account may leave out important details or repeat versions of events that have been passed down without proper examination.
Thanksgiving is not a celebration of colonization. It is a tradition rooted in something much older: the recognition of a harvest, the provision of food, and the giving of thanks. As we've seen, people have been setting aside times to celebrate the harvest and give thanks for God's provision for thousands of years. That didn't begin with the Pilgrims, and it certainly didn't end with them.
So, does Thanksgiving as we celebrate it today really have anything to do with the arguments being made for abolishing it? I don't believe it does. We can tell the truth about our history, acknowledge the suffering that took place, and still recognize that a day of thanksgiving has a meaning far greater than one event in American history.
And this year, as you sit around the table with family and friends, perhaps with some of the same questions or reservations you've heard others express, remember what you're actually celebrating. You can be thankful for the food before you, for the harvest that made it possible, and for the God who continues to provide. Long before Thanksgiving became an American holiday, people understood that the land, the crops, and the provision that filled their tables were not something to take for granted. That hasn't changed. God is still in control of the land and the harvest, and there is still every reason to give thanks.
I'd Love to Hear Your Thoughts
Have the growing criticisms of Thanksgiving changed how you think about the holiday?
Do you believe we can acknowledge the difficult parts of history while still celebrating a day set aside for gratitude and giving thanks to God?
Share your thoughts in the comments. I'd love to hear your perspective.
