What is the true meaning and origin of Thanksgiving?
Christian Response ► It is to be grateful towards God for His many blessings
Many people believe it was due to the Indians being kind to the Americans, and then later the Americans killed the Indians (for whatever reason), thus putting a bad taste in the hearts of many towards Thanksgiving.
I am not sure how true this is, but I do know that our Founding Fathers had nothing like that in mind, especially when George Washington made the first Thanksgiving Proclamation in 1789. The first few sentences are the following:
“Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor– and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”
It is worth reading the rest in the link below: