"Previously, Thanksgiving celebrations had been entirely dependent on the wishes of presidents and governors who could declare a Thanksgiving whenever they felt a celebration was in order. Public holidays were in short supply in early America. There was only one, aside from the weekly Sabbath: the Fourth of July. Even Christmas was a workday in some parts of the country...
In 1837, Hale became editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book, the pre-eminent women’s magazine of the 19th century, a sort of combination of Good Housekeeping, Gourmet,Architectural Digest, Vogue, and The New Yorker. She stayed at her post for more than 40 years and used her considerable power to advocate for some of her favorite causes, which included education for women, celebration of American writing, the preservation of historical monuments, and, especially, the establishment of a Thanksgiving holiday on the last Thursday of November. This, she argued, would bring Americans together: “For one day the strife of parties will be hushed, the cares of business will be put aside, and all hearts will join in common emotions of gratitude and good-will.”...
Even after they rejoined the Union, Southerners remained hostile to Thanksgiving. Congress didn’t vote to make it an official federal holiday until 1941, so observation until then was still technically a matter of choice. Oran Milo Roberts, governor of Texas from 1879 to 1883, refused to acknowledge it. “It’s a damned Yankee institution anyway,” he said. Alabama and Louisiana had days of Thanksgiving in 1875 and 1877 to celebrate the exclusion of African-Americans from their state governments. "
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