The human tradition of thanksgiving runs back to ancient times as a celebration of bountiful harvests and the need to be respectful to whatever gods or supernatural forces were thought to have made them possible. It is a tradition that took special root in a religious and fruitful America from the earliest days of European settlement.
The establishment of Thanksgiving as a permanent national holiday, set for late November, is credited to President Abraham Lincoln. It was a time of war, with some people celebrating the safe return of loved ones and others suffering from separation or mourning permanent loss.