By federal law, since 1942, Americans have celebrated Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday in November since 1942, but numerous other dates were designated in the past.

Most believe that the origin of Thanksgiving came to us via the 53 Pilgrims and the 90 Native Americans in the fall of 1621. As a descendant of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins (my 10th Great Grandparents), whether it is true or not, I love this idea.

However, I must give other sources equal credit. The Partnership With Native Americans tells us, “As the story goes, the English sailed from England on the Mayflower, landed at Plymouth Rock, and had a good harvest in 1621. So, the governor (William Bradford) held a feast to celebrate and invited a group of friendly Native Americans, including the Wampanoag chief Massasoit, and they feasted on fowl and deer…

“But “not exactly,” says Ramona Peters, the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe.

“Did you know:

“The holiday wasn’t even proclaimed until 1777.

“The English did not even land at Plymouth Rock.

“The English did not find an empty land.

“The original feast lasted for three days.”

However, in 1668, the holiday we know as Thanksgiving was set to be celebrated every year on November 25. However, that was only true for a few short years.

The National Archives’ “Pieces of History” tells us, “One of the last actions of the first Congress while meeting in New York City was to pass a resolution asking the President to recommend a day of thanksgiving. On October 3, President George Washington issued a proclamation naming Thursday, November 26, 1789, as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, and that year Thanksgiving was celebrated for the first time under the new Constitution.” Yet, in the years that followed, the holiday bounced informally from month to month and date to date. The last Thursday in November became the norm in 1863 with a declaration by President Abraham Lincoln.

Pieces of History goes on to tell us, “Subsequent Thanksgiving proclamations from Washington, and later James Madison, varied in dates—and even months—with celebrations in February (1795) and April (1815). But it wasn’t until Abraham Lincoln’s October 3, 1863, proclamation that a President proclaimed Thanksgiving to be celebrated on the last Thursday of November.

Even so, “After Lincoln’s death in 1865, Andrew Johnson’s first Thanksgiving proclamation designated the first Thursday in December as a national day of thanksgiving. But for the remainder of his Presidency, he chose the last Thursday in November to celebrate.

“In 1870, Congress passed legislation making Thanksgiving, in addition to Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, and Independence Day, as holidays within the District of Columbia. All other holidays in the legislation had fixed dates—December 25, January 1, and July 4, respectively—but for Thanksgiving the President was given discretion to set the date. For the most part, each President declared the last Thursday of November a Thanksgiving.

“During Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Presidency, the last Thursday in November fell on the last day of the month twice, in 1933 and 1939. Concerned that the shortened Christmas shopping season might dampen the economic recovery, large business owners lobbied Roosevelt to move the holiday up a week. Roosevelt, however, decided to stick with precedence in 1933.”

As mentioned above, in 1939 some Americans had the option of celebrating Thanksgiving on two different dates. Because that year had five Thursdays in November, retailers asked President Franklin D. Roosevelt to push the holiday back a week in order to give people more time for holiday shopping. Roosevelt agreed, but many saw the move as nothing but a money grab by retailers, and several governors declared that the holiday would be celebrated in their states on the traditional last Thursday. The battle was finally settled when Congress passed a law in December 1941 that made Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday of November.