Thanksgiving is a quintessentially American tradition, dating all the way back to our country’s founding.
In his Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789, President George Washington recommended 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.”
The very next day now ushers in another uniquely American observance—one grounded not in government decree but in voluntary exchange: Black Friday, the unofficial start of the Christmas shopping season and one of the purest expressions of market activity anywhere in the world.
Millions Celebrating the Free Market
Though the term “Black Friday” didn’t originate with door-busting savings, retailers adopted it to their advantage through clever marketing and deep discounts, with stupendous results. Historically, many businesses that operated at a financial loss for most of the year finally turned a profit during the Christmas rush, beginning the day after Thanksgiving. Huge discounts drove sales and got companies out of the red and back in the black.
An entire day humming with free-market principles. Lower prices lead to more sales, which means bigger revenue for big-box stores and mom-and-pops alike.
According to the National Retail Federation, 2024’s Black Friday was the most popular shopping day of the year, both in stores and online. US online sales for the weekend hit a record $41.1 billion, according to Forbes.
Black Friday is “capitalism at its most beautiful,” as it embodies the vibrancy of decentralized decision-making. Millions of individuals—retailers, workers, and shoppers—coordinate through prices and competition rather than any central plan. Whether it’s a small Etsy shop or a multinational chain, profit incentives and consumer choice align to deliver what people value most.
Charitable Hearts, Not Government Handouts
Following the weekend frenzy of Black Friday through Cyber Monday comes another true free-market tradition: Giving Tuesday, a celebration of voluntary philanthropy that plays a vital role in a free, prosperous, and moral society.
Created in 2012 as a social-media campaign to encourage charitable giving after Thanksgiving, Giving Tuesday has grown into a global movement. In 2023, Americans donated more than $3.1 billion on that single day, according to the GivingTuesday Data Commons.
The United States consistently ranks among the most charitable countries on earth. In 2023, Americans contributed an estimated $557 billion to charity—about 2% of GDP—according to Giving USA.
Unlike taxation or government redistribution, these gifts are voluntary acts of moral choice—citizens freely supporting the causes they care about without coercion or force. Through voluntary philanthropy, not government handouts, free individuals choose where to invest, give, and spend their tax-deductible dollars.
Where Free Markets and Philanthropy Meet
Both Black Friday and Giving Tuesday demonstrate that human flourishing doesn’t require central planning. In a free society, individuals create, trade, and give according to their own values and incentives.
In 2015, when the Foundation for Economic Education re-released Anything That’s Peaceful—the 1964 classic by FEE founder Leonard E. Read—FEE President Emeritus Lawrence W. Reed wrote in his introduction, “The creative energy released by peace and mutual respect works wonders in all things big and small.”
Since 1946, the Foundation for Economic Education has been devoted to advancing the principles of liberty, limited government, and free markets to every rising generation. For nearly 80 years, FEE has been where free markets and philanthropy meet.
Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday are all uniquely American traditions—each, in its own way, celebrating individual liberty, economic freedom, generosity, and moral character: the values at the core of our republic, founded nearly 250 years ago.
