Editor's note: At the height of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued a Thanksgiving proclamation to encourage Americans “in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea, and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer.” Americans have celebrated Thanksgiving each year since.

We present Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation in the spirit of this important American holiday.

By the President of the United States | A Proclamation

The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and even soften the heart which........

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