Prior to 1863, when Abraham Lincoln set a permanent day for Thanksgiving, each state chose its own date and every year the governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts issued a proclamation naming the date. In some years there was no celebration at all if it was felt there was nothing for which to be thankful. The language of this 1848 proclamation by Governor Briggs of Massachusetts is typical, save for some very topical references. This year the Mexican War (1846-1848) ended with the Treaty of Guadeloupe that ceded almost half of Mexico to the United States. New England had been opposed to the war which many saw as an effort to extend territory for slavery. Briggs called for an end to “the further extension of slavery,” an institution he declared to be “repugnant to the rights of humanity.” The debates over the status of the land taken from Mexico would eventually lead to a decade of political crises that would end in the Civil War.
Briggs, George N. A Proclamation For A Day Of Public Thanksgiving And Praise. Commonwealth of Massachusetts, October 6, 1848. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/l02-149/. Accessed on October 16, 2024.
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