My Greeting, Prayer, and Blessing to You. A man we all know, said it best:
"It has seemed to me fit and proper that they (our blessings) should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens."
- Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation October 3, 1863