On what date did George Washington issue the first national Thanksgiving proclamation?

George Washington issued the first national Thanksgiving proclamation on October 3, 1789. At the request of Congress, he designated Thursday, November 26, 1789, as a national day of thanksgiving and prayer.

Washington’s proclamation praised the conclusion of the Revolutionary War and the establishment of the new constitutional government. It asked Americans to express gratitude for peace, prosperity, civil and religious liberty, and the opportunity to create a national government.

The proclamation was not the beginning of every Thanksgiving tradition in North America. Colonial communities had held local harvest observances long before 1789, and individual colonies and states issued their own thanksgiving declarations. Washington’s action was the first national proclamation by a U.S. president under the Constitution.

The date of the proclamation is often confused with the date of the holiday it announced. Washington signed the proclamation on October 3, while the designated observance took place on November 26. Abraham Lincoln later established a recurring national Thanksgiving observance during the Civil War.