The meaning of Thanksgiving Day

  • Title:

    What So Proudly We Hail
  • Hardcover Price:

    35.00
  • Hardcover ISBN:

    978-1610170062
  • Hardcover Dimensions:

    6" x 9"
  • 790 Hardcover pages
  • Buy the Book

Article Highlights

  • Thanksgiving is a much beloved American holiday. But what do we celebrate on Thanksgiving?

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  • A new collection of stories, speeches, and songs examines the meaning of Thanksgiving Day.

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Thanksgiving is a venerable and much beloved American holiday. But what do we celebrate on Thanksgiving? This collection of stories, speeches, and songs examines the meaning of Thanksgiving Day, with selections by American authors such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Jack London, Langston Hughes, Sarah Orne Jewett and O. Henry, to name just a few. For more stories, speeches, and songs, or to learn more about the What So Proudly We Hail project, head to www.WhatSoProudlyWeHail.org.

Thanksgiving Day: An American Holiday 

The Origins and Traditions of Thanksgiving Day
William Bradford, Excerpts from Of Plymouth Plantation
George Washington, Thanksgiving Proclamation
Sarah Josepha Buell Hale, Excerpt from Northwood
Sarah Josepha Buell Hale, “Our National Thanksgiving”
Sarah Josepha Buell Hale, Letter to President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln, Thanksgiving Proclamation
Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama, Modern Thanksgiving Proclamations
James W. Ceaser, Excerpt from “No Thanks to Gratitude”
Thanksgiving Day Proclamations, 1789–present

Public and Private Blessings: The Things for Which We Should Be Grateful
Harvest
John Greenleaf Whittier, "For an Autumn Festival"
John Greenleaf Whittier, "The Corn Song"

Hearth and Home
Louisa May Alcott, "An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving"
Lydia Maria Child, "Thanksgiving Day"
Edgar Albert Guest, "Thanksgiving"

Prosperity
Harriet Beecher Stowe, "How We Kept Thanksgiving at Oldtown"
Jack London, "Thanksgiving on Slav Creek"
Sarah Orne Jewett, "The Lost Turkey"
Langston Hughes, "Those Who Have No Turkey"

Neighborliness and Hospitality
Sarah Orne Jewett, "The Night Before Thanksgiving"
O. Henry, "Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen"

Liberty and Equal Opportunity
Daniel Webster, Excerpt from "The First Settlement of New England"
Dorothy Canfield Fisher, "A New Pioneer"
Edward Everett Hale, "Thanksgiving at the Polls"

Discussion Guides
Discussion Guide for George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation
Discussion Guide for "Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen"

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About the Author

 

Leon R.
Kass
  • Leon R. Kass, M.D., is the Addie Clark Harding Professor Emeritus in the Committee on Social Thought and the College at the University of Chicago and the Madden-Jewett Chair at AEI. He was the chairman of the President's Council on Bioethics from 2001 to 2005. He has been engaged for more than 40 years with ethical and philosophical issues raised by biomedical advances and, more recently, with broader moral and cultural issues. His most recent book, What So Proudly We Hail: The American Soul in Story, Speech, and Song, seeks to promote American identity, character and citizenship. Along with co-editors Amy Kass and Diana Schaub, Dr. Kass is presently working to expand this project by creating video discussions and curricula materials that demonstrate how short stories can be used to enhance our understanding of the Meaning of America.
  • Phone: 202-862-7156
    Email: lkass@aei.org
  • Assistant Info

    Name: Caroline Kitchens
    Phone: 202-862-5820
    Email: caroline.kitchens@aei.org

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