In September 1789 , the government of the United States was only a few months old .
George Washington was president – the nation's first .
Congress was new , too .
Some of the early lawmakers came to the president with a question : Would he call for a national Thanksgiving ?
One aim was to help unify the young country , which was made of the 13 former colonies .
Calling a national Thanksgiving would be a way to bring Americans together .
But other lawmakers strongly objected to the idea .
Critics had two main concerns .
First , some saw Thanksgiving as a religious holiday .
They noted the president could not use the power of the federal government to urge Americans to follow -- or not follow -- a religious tradition .
Second , opponents of the measure believed the president did not have the right to call a national Thanksgiving .
That power belonged to the leader of each state , they said .
In the end , Washington did formally call for a national Thanksgiving .
It was the country's first presidential proclamation .
In it , he called for a national “day of public thanksgiving and prayer .”
He also tried to satisfy opponents of the idea .
Melanie Kirkpatrick is the writer of “Thanksgiving : The Holiday at the Heart of the American Experience .”
She explains that Washington sent copies of his proclamation to the leader of each of the 13 states .
He asked them to call a national Thanksgiving on the day he had chosen .
The president was very well respected , Kirkpatrick notes .
And so the state leaders all agreed .
In the years that followed , some presidents issued their own proclamations for a day of thanksgiving ; many others did not .
Finally , in 1941 , lawmakers in Congress made the fourth Thursday in November a legal holiday .
This Thanksgiving , millions of Americans will gather to eat a meal and express their thanks .
Their gatherings may echo George Washington's first Thanksgiving proclamation .
In it , the first president made a point of declaring that people of all religions should celebrate Thanksgiving .
That idea is still important .
Almost everyone in the country , including immigrants , observes the holiday in some way .
Kirkpatrick says that for new Americans , the day can be a rite of passage .