Lincoln's National Day of Thanks

Abraham Lincoln is known as the man who saved the union.  His goal at the beginning of the Civil War was to preserve a united nation and work to resolve the differences among the states.  He dreamed of a country where people gave their allegiances to the United States of America first.  When I teach about identity in US History prior to the 20th century I try to get the point across that those living in what is today Virginia would have called themselves Virginians first then Americans.  This is also true of the Thanksgiving holiday.  Prior to 1863 individual states had Thanksgiving holidays at various times throughout the year.  On Oct. 3rd, 1863 took another step to unify a divided country by declaring a national Thanksgiving Day.  As I look forward to seeing the new Spielberg film Lincoln,  I find it very appropriate that it is one of the top movies out over the Thanksgiving holiday.