Press Releases

Americans Celebrate Thanksgiving Day

November 22, 2006

The U.S. Embassy, USAID, Peace Corps and CDC offices will be closed on Thursday, November 23, as American citizens throughout the world celebrate Thanksgiving Day. Services will resume on Friday, November 24.

According to a statement from the American Embassy in Dar es Salaam, almost every culture in the world has held celebrations of thanks for a plentiful harvest. The American Thanksgiving holiday began as a feast of thanksgiving in the early days of the American colonies almost four hundred years ago.

During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress suggested a day of national thanksgiving. In 1817, New York state adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom and in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln appointed a national day of thanksgiving. Since then, each U.S. President has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation, usually designating the fourth Thursday of each November as the holiday.

For this year’s Thanksgiving Day, President George W. Bush says: “At this time of great promise for America, we are grateful for the freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution and defended by our Armed Forces throughout the generations. Today, many of these courageous men and women are securing our peace in places far from home, and we pay tribute to them and to their families for their service, sacrifice, and strength. We also honor the families of the fallen and lift them up in our prayers.”

President Bush adds: “American citizens are privileged to live in the world’s freest country, where the hope of the American dream is within the reach of every person. Americans share a desire to answer the universal call to serve something greater than themselves, and we see this spirit everyday in the millions of volunteers throughout the country who bring hope to those in need. On this Thanksgiving Day, and throughout the year, let us show our gratitude for the blessings of freedom, family and faith.”