The American Thanksgiving tradition originated with the Pilgrims. As early as 1621, the Puritan colonists of Plymouth, Massachusetts set aside a day of thanks for a bountiful harvest. On October 3, 1789, President George Washington proclaimed the 26th of that November the first national Thanksgiving Day under the Constitution.
On October 3, 1863, in the wake of victory at Gettysburg, President Abraham Lincoln decided to issue a Thanksgiving Proclamation declaring the last Thursday in November national Thanksgiving Day. In 1941 Congress made it official.
ABQjournal: O?ate Had His Thanksgiving in 1598 By Donald A. Chavez y Gilbert, Freelance Writer
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday which has a much longer history than most Americans realize.
The first recorded act of giving thanks by Europeans on this continent occurred April 30, 1598, as the O?ate muster arrived on the banks of El Rio Bravo, the Rio Grande. That was almost a quarter century before the Pilgrims anchored the Mayflower at Plymouth Rock on Nov. 21, 1620.