President Andrew Johnson has proclaimed December 7, 1865 as a national day of Thanksgiving, marking the first such celebration after the Civil War's end. His proclamation celebrates the nation's deliverance "from the scourge of civil war" and calls for Americans to "secure the blessings of peace, unity and harmony, with a great enlargement of civil liberty." Massachusetts Governor John A. Andrew echoed this sentiment in his own proclamation, urging citizens to remember "our beloved brothers and sons who have tasted death in her defence" while embracing "the millions delivered by our arms and their own from bondage." The front page also features Treasury Secretary Hugh McCulloch's sobering financial report: the national debt has swollen to a staggering $3 billion, but he believes it can be paid off in 28 years. He's particularly concerned about the "plethora of paper money" flooding the economy and recommends retiring $100-200 million in government notes to restore financial stability. Meanwhile, Navy Secretary Gideon Welles reports that the Union Navy captured an astounding 1,151 Confederate and blockade-running vessels during the war, with an estimated value exceeding $21 million.

This Thanksgiving proclamation marks a pivotal moment in American history—the nation's first attempt to heal and give thanks after its bloodiest conflict. The Civil War had ended just eight months earlier with Lee's surrender at Appomattox, and Lincoln's assassination had thrust Johnson into the presidency during the most challenging period in American history. The massive $3 billion debt—equivalent to roughly $50 billion today—represented the enormous cost of preserving the Union and ending slavery. These financial concerns would dominate Reconstruction politics, as would the question of how to integrate millions of freed slaves into American society. Johnson's call for thanksgiving came as the nation grappled with fundamental questions about its future that would shape the next century of American development.

• The Worcester Daily Spy was established in July 1770—meaning this newspaper had been operating for 95 years and witnessed everything from the Boston Tea Party to the Civil War's end
• The Union Navy added exactly 43,900 men and 208 steam vessels to its rolls during the four-year war, plus purchased 418 additional vessels (313 of them steamers)
• Paper money circulation had exploded to $704,218,038 by October 1865, with an additional $30 million in compound interest notes actually circulating—a massive inflation that worried Treasury officials
• Prize money from captured Confederate vessels totaled $21,829,543.96 by November 1865, with most of it being 'British property' according to the Navy report
• There were already 2,027 naval veterans on the pension roll receiving $248,529.50 annually—showing how quickly the government moved to support disabled veterans

• Secretary McCulloch wanted to withdraw up to $200 million in paper money from circulation, but even after this massive contraction, he calculated there would still be $610 million circulating—showing just how dramatically the war had inflated the money supply
• The Worcester Daily Spy cost $3 per year if paid in advance, otherwise 75 cents per month—meaning subscribers saved about $6 annually (roughly $100 today) by paying upfront
• Andrew Johnson's Thanksgiving proclamation was co-signed by William Seward as Secretary of State—the same Seward who had been brutally attacked during Lincoln's assassination and was still recovering from his wounds
• The Navy Department estimated it would cost 'a little less than twenty-four millions' to operate for 1867—a fraction of the $1 billion+ spent on the War Department during 1865
• Massachusetts Governor John Andrew, who issued the state's Thanksgiving proclamation, was one of the most radical Republicans of his era and had been among the first to advocate for Black soldiers in the Union Army