On This Day - 26th November

1789: The First National Thanksgiving in the United States

In 1789, the young United States paused for the first time to mark a national day of thanksgiving. The country was only months into its new constitution, the government was still finding its rhythm and the idea of a united celebration felt like a gentle step toward building a shared identity. On 26 November, at the request of Congress, President George Washington proclaimed a day for Americans to give thanks for the peace, freedom and stability that had begun to settle after the turbulence of the Revolution.

Washington’s proclamation had a simple tone. It encouraged citizens to reflect on the end of the war, the success of the new constitutional system and the chance to shape a future that no longer depended on the will of a distant empire. It also invited people to recognise the deeper hopes behind the political experiment, from personal liberty to the possibility of a more just society.

The first Thanksgiving Day was not yet tied to turkey dinners, parades or the family rituals that developed in later centuries. It was more of a civic pause, a moment when the country looked inward and took stock of what it had gained. Although the tradition was not made annual until much later, Washington’s 1789 proclamation set the idea in motion.

It marked an early attempt to give the new nation a shared rhythm, a touchstone in the calendar that reminded people of their common story as they moved into an uncertain future.