Reflecting on Thanksgiving with Thoreau, Twain, and Washington

CV NEWS FEED // Thanksgiving invites reflection on gratitude and its meaning, and the perspectives of three notable figures — Henry David Thoreau, Mark Twain, and George Washington — offer a varied understanding of the holiday, according to Russell Shaw of Angelus News.

Shaw explored the reflections of these three “famous Americans” searching for the answer to the question: “Thanksgiving to whom, and for what?”

Renowned naturalist and philosopher Henry David Thoreau considered himself to be in an ongoing, personal state of gratitude rooted in a deep sense of contentment.

In Walden, he expressed how even the simplest aspects of life could be a source of thanks. According to Shaw, Thoreau’s perspective reflects his philosophy of “radical individualism,” where gratitude came from the profound experience of existence itself, rather than external events.

“My thanksgiving is perpetual,” Thoreau wrote. “It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite — only a sense of existence. Well, anything for variety. I am ready to try this for the next 1,000 years & exhaust it … My breath is sweet to me.”

Mark Twain expressed a more cynical view of Thanksgiving. He described the holiday’s origins as a time when colonists, having “succeeded in exterminating their neighbors, the Indians, during the previous twelve months instead of getting exterminated by their neighbors, the Indians,” turned to God in gratitude for their survival. 

Twain wrote, “Thanksgiving Day became a habit [when] it was perceived that the exterminating had ceased to be mutual and was all on the white man’s side, consequently on the Lord’s side; hence it was proper to thank the Lord for it and extend the usual compliments.”

Twain’s biting humor and later bitterness in life, marked by personal losses and financial ruin, color his take on Thanksgiving, according to Shaw.

The nation’s first president, in his 1789 proclamation, marked the first official Thanksgiving as a day for Americans to recognize God’s providence and the blessings of their newfound government. 

Washington’s words laid the foundation for a holiday focused on gratitude to God, setting a precedent for the national observance that Abraham Lincoln would later solidify in 1863. His vision of Thanksgiving emphasized unity, peace, and the opportunity to establish a safer, happier nation.

Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation, described by Shaw as “a thank you that a nation can put its heart into,” emphasized gratitude to God for the blessings of peace and self-governance. 

In his 1789 proclamation, Washington declared:

“Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me ‘to recommend to the people of the United States a Day of Publick Thanksgiving and Prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.’”