Lincoln’s 1863 Thanksgiving and Ours

Lincoln’s 1863 Thanksgiving and Ours

Nick Mills: Lincoln’s 1863 Thanksgiving and Ours

We are a long way from October 1863, when in the midst of the Civil War Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation asking all Americans to set aside the last Thursday of November as a day of thanksgiving. But the tone of Lincoln?s proclamation, with its appeal to the Almighty ?to heal the wounds of the nation? and restore peace, is important to keep in mind as we celebrate Thanksgiving in the midst of the Afghanistan War.

In 1863, the North?s fortunes were improving. Union forces won important victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg that summer, and at the start of the year, Lincoln felt confident enough to issue his final Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that all persons held as slaves in the states or parts of the states pledged to the Confederacy shall henceforth be free. The war that began as a struggle to preserve the union was now a war of liberation as well. To those who questioned what he had in mind when he spoke of all men being created equal, Lincoln did not mince words. ?You say you will not fight to defend negroes. Some of them seem willing to fight for you,? was his answer to those who opposed the Emancipation Proclamation.

As the Afghanistan War drags on, President Obama?s military options are much less dire than Lincoln?s. For that we can be grateful. But the tone of Lincoln?s Thanksgiving Proclamation should still be ours. The war we are waging in Afghanistan is one in which comparatively few burdens fall on wealthy, or even middle-class, Americans. The peace and tranquility of our home front–airport searches notwithstanding–have been purchased at a price that should shame us all in how it has been portioned out. We need to bear in mind all we owe those who have taken on the wartime risks that we as a nation lack the political will to share.

Image: Portrait of Lincoln in November 1863 (Alexander Gardner/Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons)