If you think Independence Day is America's defining holiday

Hear the words of Tony Snow, a man who spoke not merely as a journalist but as a philosopher of the nation’s heart: “If you think Independence Day is America’s defining holiday, think again. Thanksgiving deserves that title, hands-down.” At first, his claim seems to challenge the very fire of freedom — for who would dare place any day above that sacred Fourth of July, when liberty was declared and the chains of empire were cast aside? Yet Snow, with the wisdom of one who knew both history and humanity, reminds us that freedom alone is not the summit of a nation’s spirit. Freedom gives breath — but gratitude gives soul.

The origin of his words lies in the heart of American history, where gratitude, humility, and endurance were the first virtues sown in the soil of a new world. Long before the fireworks of independence, before the roar of cannons and the rise of flags, there were weary settlers gathered around a table of survival. These were the pilgrims of 1621, who, having endured famine, cold, and loss, paused not to boast of conquest but to give thanks for life itself. Their meal was not a feast of triumph, but a sacrament of gratitude — shared even with the native peoples who had helped them endure. It was the first Thanksgiving, and in it, Snow saw the true foundation of the American spirit: not the defiance of kings, but the acknowledgment of blessings.

For Independence Day celebrates what a nation fights for — but Thanksgiving celebrates what it lives for. One honors the sword of struggle; the other, the harvest of peace. Freedom is a mighty achievement, but without gratitude, it hardens into pride. Tony Snow knew that liberty without thanksgiving is a body without heart, a song without melody. Thanksgiving is the sacred reminder that freedom’s purpose is not merely to do as we wish, but to recognize the gifts we have been given — the bounty of the land, the ties of family, the mercy of Providence, and the endurance of hope through hardship.

Consider the story of Abraham Lincoln, who in the dark fires of the Civil War proclaimed Thanksgiving as a national holiday in 1863. The land was torn by grief; brother fought brother, and fields that once yielded wheat were heavy with the fallen. Yet Lincoln, seeing beyond the nation’s agony, called the people not to despair but to gratitude. “We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven,” he wrote, even as blood was spilled upon the earth. That act of thanksgiving in the midst of suffering revealed a truth deeper than politics: that gratitude is not born from ease, but from endurance. It was Lincoln’s faith — and the faith of those who heeded his call — that transformed a fractured people into a nation capable of healing.

Thus, Snow’s words speak not only to America’s history but to the nature of all humanity. For every soul that gains independence — whether of nation or of spirit — must eventually learn that freedom without gratitude becomes emptiness. The proud may shout of rights and victories, but only the humble heart gives life its meaning. To gather in thanks is to remember that no triumph is self-made, that all blessings flow from unseen hands — the labor of others, the generosity of the earth, the mercy of time. Thanksgiving, therefore, is not a holiday of feasting alone, but a meditation on dependence — not on kings or governments, but on one another, and on the divine grace that sustains us all.

In the spirit of the ancients, this lesson echoes through ages: that the strongest nations and the noblest lives are built not on conquest, but on gratitude. When Rome grew proud and forgot its virtues, it crumbled. When the Israelites gave thanks even in the desert, they endured. So too must every people, and every person, remember that gratitude is the root of peace. A heart that gives thanks cannot be enslaved by envy or fear; it is free in the truest sense, for it knows its place within the harmony of life.

O listener, take this wisdom to heart: celebrate your independence, yes, but cherish your thanksgiving more. Do not wait for the holiday to give thanks — make it the rhythm of your days. When you eat, remember those who hungered before you. When you succeed, honor those who helped you rise. When you are weary, find solace not in complaint, but in gratitude for the strength that still remains. For as Tony Snow reminds us, the destiny of a nation, and indeed of every soul, is not defined by the day it declared itself free — but by the day it learned to give thanks.

And so, let it be said for generations yet to come: freedom is the body of America, but thanksgiving is its heart. Independence made a nation — gratitude made a people. May both endure, hand in hand, as long as the stars shine over this land.