With Abe Lincoln’s new Proclamation, citizens rejoiced and turkeys scattered

by: Bob Ford

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President Abrahim Lincoln liked to make Proclamations, everything from Emancipation, freeing the slaves in rebellious States, establishing new States, suspending the Writ of Habeas Corpus to proclaiming a National Holiday,…Thanksgiving.

It was traumatic times as the country was in an “all out,” war within our own border. Proclamations and the issuance of Executive Power edicts were a way the President could quickly implement policies without having to battle Congress.

The Civil War had dragged on for 2 plus years, several of Lincoln’s Proclamations ordered States to supply additional troops. The War was more costly and consuming than anyone had imagined. Only until recent Union victories at Vicksburg and Gettysburg did a few consider the tide was turning.

At the end of 1863 there were still 3 active battle theaters. When the fighting season opened in the spring of 1864, Grant had come East and would face Lee for the first time at the Battle of the Wilderness, starting the brutal but final military stage of the war, the Overland Campaign.

Lincoln was a shrewd politician. He faced political factions in Congress that loathed him and colleagues that feared him. What I admire most about the President is he adjusted, learning and changing his mind using different tactics to achieve what was needed. Some of his choices followed Christian principles while others were purely political.

To remind Americans how fortunate they were even when the country seemed to be falling apart with many families having a loved one on the battlefield, Lincoln designated one day officially to reflect and give thanks. “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 in November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwells in the Heavens.”

In today’s vernacular I’d say it a little differently, “You know, we have it pretty good here in the United States, let’s get family and friends together the last Thursday in November, watch a little football, eat too much and think about life, praise be.” Personally the way articulate people spoke and wrote in the mid-1800’s is inspiring, we could use more of their eloquence.

When Lincoln issued Proclamation 104,“Suspending the privileges of the Writ of Habeas Corpus,” the founders of the Constitution must have been rolling over in their graves. It is a foundational law of democracy that you can not arrest and hold anyone without showing “cause.”

In history Kings and Queens could incarcerate their political foes at a whim. Countries would only change leadership through revolution and/or war. The right of Habeas Corpus protects citizens against arbitrary arrests and detention. That protection dates back to 1215, the Magna Carta, Europe’s first constitution.

Chief Justice Roger Taney of the United States Supreme Court and Lincoln had a constitutional showdown over the President’s ability to suspend the writ. The Judge issued an opinion clearly stating Congress, not the President, had sole authority to suspend the writ of habeas corpus. Lincoln basically ignored the order.

Lincoln considered Taney an enemy. They detested each other. Taney wrote and read what many, even today, considered the worst decision the United States Supreme Court ever made in the Dred Scott case, mainly not allowing people of African descent the rights and privileges granted white citizens.

The Chief Justice held the bible and swore President Lincoln into the office then had to stand there and listen as the new President delivered his first inaugural address, lambasting the court’s controversial Dred Scott opinion.

Of the time, there were only a few truly influential women: actress Laura Keene, abolitionist Anna Elizebeth Dickerson, writer Harriet Beecher Stowe and editor Sarah Josepha Hale come to mind. When Stowe, who authored Uncle Tom’s Cabin, famously visited the White House in 1862, President Lincoln welcomed her, “So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war!” No pressure in that greeting, I wonder where the conversation went from there,…would you like some punch?

But it was Sarah Hale who edited the most popular monthly magazine of the day, Godey’s Lady Book, boosting 150,000 dedicated subscribers, and she also authored the celebrated nursery rhyme we all know, “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Hale impacted the President’s thinking with her persuasive prose concerning the need for a national day of Thanksgiving.

She felt the other national holidays were primarily for men, Washington’s Birthday and the 4th of July. Several States and cities observed a type of Thanksgiving on different dates, what the country needed was a national Proclamation dedicating a specific day where America paused, bringing the family and loved ones together to celebrate our nation, praise the Lord and give thanks!

Lincoln agreed, on October 3rd, 1863, in the midst of a war that may destroy the nation, President Lincoln issued Presidential Proclamation 106. With this Proclamation the United States established a Day of Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November every year.

My two favorite holidays are Thanksgiving and the 4th of July. The 4th is more celebratory where Thanksgiving is reflective. Happy Thanksgiving everyone, share your thoughts with others, meaning say things on that day you don’t usually say. Pass down to others the gift of gratitude, showing appreciation for what we have been blessed with.

I am grateful for my family, friends, good health and this beautiful country, Happy Thanksgiving!

You can find more of Bob’s work including his Bob Ford’s History, Mystery and Lore podcast on his website bobfordshistory.com and on YouTube.