Thanksgiving: the Civil War Way

Ahh, Thanksgiving: The time of turkey, family and overeating; Black Friday shopping and cranberry sauce. Yesterday my family enjoyed Thanksgiving just like everyone else, but one tradition in my family kept me thinking about the Civil War. 

What is this tradition? 

Yankee Potpie!

If you're paying attention, you'll notice that this is what I named my blog. Yankee Potpie is, simply enough, crackers and gravy. You simply pour gravy over crackers and BOOM! instant treat. Yankee Potpie is a sort of a legend: there are a ton of stories to tell of its origin.

I’ve always been taught that Yankee Potpie had a Civil War start. There weren’t many dentists in those days, making Americans' teeth soft and rotten. Union soldiers’ diets were alike, consisting mainly of a hard cracker, called hardtack. We’ll get into soldiers’ diets later, but for now just know that hardtack was hard as a rock and they needed to soften it in order to eat it. One of those methods was simply pouring gravy over it; hence, Yankee potpie. We enjoy Yankee Potpie every Thanksgiving, and, appropriately enough since Lincoln started Thanksgiving. Yes, the Pilgrims had the “first” Thanksgiving, and George Washington had made a national time of thanksgiving, it wasn’t until the mid-1800’s that Thanksgiving became an official holiday.

Sara Josepha Hale got the ball rolling on a national day of Thanksgiving. She was the editor of a magazine and passionately petitioned the president for an official day of Thanksgiving for 15 years. 15 years! President after president ignored her, until Abraham Lincoln came to office.

As soon as she petitioned him for a specific day of Thanksgiving, Lincoln responded with making the last Thursday of November a national day of Thanksgiving. He even gave government departments the day off. In his Thanksgiving Proclamation, Lincoln states:

“It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens 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 Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.”

In other words, we together as Americans need to thank our God for all He’s done for us. Lincoln says in his speech that since the country was torn apart in hostility, Americans needed this united day to be one, united under God once again. All thanks to one persistent petitioner.

Anyway, back to explaining why I named my blog after a Union soldiers' food staple.

I called my blog "Yankee Potpie", because it all-encompasses my views of the war; from the simple things like food or music to the families that were affected by each piece of the war.  I'm blogging about the Civil War, but the personal side. The title Yankee Potpie helps me to remember what the purpose of this blog is: To help people feel the personal side of the Civil War.

This Thanksgiving I’m thankful for Sara Josepha Hale and her petitions, for Lincoln finally listening, for hard crackers and gravy, but most of all, I'm thankful for my God, the One whom we all pause to thank on the last Thursday of November. 

Have a favorite Thanksgiving Tradition? Post it in the comments!

Sources:

http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/thanks.htm

http://www.thenation.com/article/november-26-1863-abraham-lincoln-proclaims-thanksgiving-day/