In the spirit of Abraham Lincoln proclaiming Thanksgiving a national holiday on October 3, 1863, the filmmakers of the new acclaimed historical biographical drama ‘Lincoln‘ are wishing audiences a happy and safe holiday. In proclaiming Thanksgiving a national holiday, Lincoln said “in the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity…peace has been preserved with all nations…and harmony has prevailed everywhere.” The 16th president declared that the last Thursday of November become a day of “Thanksgiving and Praise.”

The Steven Spielberg-directed ‘Lincoln,’ which is now in theaters, follows the title character, the 16th president of the United States (played by Daniel Day-Lewis) as he pushes for the passage of the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery. As the Civil War rages on, the president must also contend with the continued carnage on the battlefield, and the fights he even experiences with members in his own cabinet over the decision to emancipate the slaves. The anti-abolitionist Democrats will be tested against Lincoln’s moderates and the more zealous anti-slavery radicals of the young Republican Party.

Lincoln must also deal with his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln (portrayed by Sally Field), as she struggles with the deaths of several of their sons, and the estrangement he faces with his college-age son Robert (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who returns home from Harvard to join the Union army.