Sarah Josepha Hale, influential editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book, did more than anyone else to establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday. In her 1837 editorial, how does Hale discuss Thanksgiving’s relationship to home and family? In her view, how might national observance of Thanksgiving serve to reinforce domestic and familial values during a period of rising individualism and rapid economic change?
Thanksgiving Discussion Question 1
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Hale believed that Thanksgiving should be a holiday dedicated to the importance of gratitude and hospitality, similar to how the holiday is viewed today. She wanted the holiday to become a family homecoming, and it should be used as a way to reconnect distance relatives. She also views the holiday as a way to preserve puritan virtues such as the simplicity of your character, love for your country, and the “fearless support of religious liberty”
During a time of rising individualism and rapid economic growth men pursued the idea of the “self-made” man, and these ambitions led them to become distant from their true duties, which is their family. Hale wanted Thanksgiving to allow the “self-made” man to continue his independence, but remember his true success, his family. Hale emphasizes that that the holiday should be a lasting way to bring families together in order for them to feel connected.
In Sarah Hale’s editorial on Thanksgiving, she promotes Thanksgiving as a holiday deeply rooted in family, home, and moral responsibility. She describes Thanksgiving as a time where “dispersed members of the family circle” come back together and share that emotional closeness and bonding. For Hale, the holiday is not simply about the food or harvest, but more so about gratitude, religion, and compassion within the home. She emphasizes the joy of the holiday, specifically to the poor and imprisoned. This suggests that Thanksgiving encourages generosity and shared moral concern. Through all this, Hale paints the home as a space where deeply important values are developed like thankfulness and emotional connection. In her eyes, these strong values had the power to ground families and ultimately form the foundation for a healthy and stable nation.
Hale’s focus on home and family shows her response to the social and economic changes of the early 1800s. During this time, our country was experiencing expanding markets, more travel, and a stronger focus on the individual. More Americans began to leave rural communities for cities and wage labor, weakening traditional family and neighborhood bonds. She viewed these changes as destabilizing to moral and social life. By encouraging families to get together every year, Thanksgiving hoped to preserve that closeness and moral stability. The holiday offered a moment of structure for people to step away from economic competition and focus on their relationships and values with their families.
Hale believes national observance of Thanksgiving would reinforce these domestic ideals. If families were getting together all across the country on the same day, then the values related to home, gratitude, and religion would become part of the American identity. Thanksgiving would hold the strong, deeply-rooted values in a quickly changing society. It encouraged collective responsibility and emotional connection, not self-interest. Hale’s goal was about more than just creating a holiday, it was about shaping social behavior. She believed a Thanksgiving recognized by the whole country could protect family life and strengthen bonds during a time of economic and cultural uncertainty.
In her 1837 editorial, Hale presents Thanksgiving as something deeply rooted in the home. She focuses on the family gathered around the table, sharing a meal and giving thanks together, but it feels very intentional. The home is where values are taught and reinforced, and Thanksgiving becomes a way to strengthen that space. By encouraging families across the country to celebrate the same day in similar ways, she connects private family traditions to a shared national experience. It’s like she’s saying that what happens inside the home matters just as much as what happens in politics or the economy.
At a time when the country was changing quickly, and more people were focused on work, success, and personal advancement, a national Thanksgiving created a pause. Hale seems to believe that even if the outside world is becoming more competitive, families could use this holiday to refocus on responsibility, gratitude, and togetherness. It wasn’t just about reconnecting for one meal, but rather to remind people where their foundation was. In her view, if homes stayed strong and value-centered, the nation would too, even during rapid economic and social change.
In Hale’s 1837 editorial, she emphasizes the gratitude and uniqueness that Thanksgiving has, which is celebrated in this way today. Unlike Christmas with its own presence, Hale portrays Thanksgiving as a time where families should be together and feast upon celebration. Within a family gathering should be a bundle of joy and thankfulness that they get to live together because of what the Puritan Fathers worked for. Hale highlights that social gatherings bring “social and domestic ties” because people have each other to rely on, rather than the average “all I can do on my own” type of person.
The national observance of Thanksgiving, in alignment with Hale’s values, should recognize the positive impact of affectionate connection, rather than selfish individualism. Thanksgiving should harmonize the benefits that our Puritan Fathers gave us with a country of liberty. Being part of a family is the most special privilege because you have a community to feast upon and bring joy to. With whatever challenges life brings, whether economic or value-based, family should always be relied upon to assist, love, and care.