The 19th century Thanksgiving is much like the Christmas celebrated in the 19th century: it is very misunderstood.
While most know that Thanksgiving was officially declared a national holiday during the later half of the 19th century they do not know how much Thanksgiving was celebrated before it became an official “day” on the national calendar.
Thanksgiving long before the 19th century in America was a time-honor family tradition. In fact, by the time the 19th century rolled around the “New England style” Thanksgiving was celebrated from border to border, in every state and territory.
Thanksgiving as well was also widely reported on in the media, too.
Take, for example, this simple little article that shows “Thanksgiving by the Numbers”, a common theme in media reports in our time about Thanksgiving. This article dates from 1801...
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