Thanksgiving Proclamation
George Washington
October 3,
1789
During the time of the founding fathers Thanksgiving was a
day set aside for prayer and fasting. This is the first
Presidential Thanksgiving Day Proclamation, issued by George
Washington in 1789.
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."
Now
therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of
November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the
service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent
Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be
–
That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and
humble thanks
–
for his kind care and protection of the People of this country
previous to their becoming a Nation
–
for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable
interpositions of his providence, which we experienced in the
course and conclusion of the late war
–
for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we
have since enjoyed
–
for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been
enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety
and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately
instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we
are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing
useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various
favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.
And
also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers
and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and
beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions
–
to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to
perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually
–
to render our national government a blessing to all the People,
by constantly being a government of wise, just, and
constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and
obeyed
–
to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such
as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good
government, peace, and concord
–
To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and
virtue, and the increase of science among them and Us
–
and generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of
temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.
Given under my hand at the City of New York
the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
WE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA
OFFER OUR GRATITUDE FOR MANIFOLD BLESSINGS
by Mark
Alexander....
Publisher of 'Patriot Post'
Mark
Alexander is a true American Patriot who
endeavors to remind us and to educate us about
the history and purpose of the United States
of America.
Here I
have taken
excerpts from an article he wrote regarding the Gratitude
we owe to Almighty God as the Creator of the
Life and as the Author of the Liberty enjoyed by
the citizens of the United States of America....as well as the Gratitude owed to our Founding
Patriots without whom there would be no
country known as the United States of America.
He writes: 'What is the nature of gratitude, of true
thankfulness? Acknowledgment of receiving a
gift that is undeserved, then joy
appropriately suffusing that knowledge,
overflowing into recognition of indebtedness
to the giver. In truth, we are not really
giving thanks—we give nothing—we are only
responding with properly grateful hearts that
are due the Gift Giver.
That is the spirit in which Thanksgiving
was first celebrated on our shores—and then
persisted as a joining thread of our nation’s
character. The Pilgrims set us on the path to
become a country humbly acknowledging the
thanks we owe to Almighty God as Creator of
life and Author of liberty.
At
Thanksgiving nowadays, we’re often invited to
“count our blessings.” Indeed, Thanksgiving is an
indispensable part of the foundation of our
nation.
Thus the
original American Thanksgiving Day centered
not on harvest feasting (as in 1621) but on
gathering together for public thanksgiving for
God’s favor and provision.
By the mid-17th century, the custom of
autumnal Thanksgivings was established
throughout New England. Observance of
Thanksgiving Festivals spread to other
colonies during the American Revolution, and
the Continental Congresses, cognizant of the
need for a warring country’s continuing
grateful entreaties to God, proclaimed yearly
Thanksgiving Days during the Revolutionary
War, from 1777 to 1783. In 1789, among the
first official acts of Congress was approving
a motion for proclamation of a national day of
thanksgiving—again acknowledging the
importance of a day for citizens to gather
together and give thanks to God for our
nation’s blessings.
On 3 October 1789, by way of proclamation,
George Washington wrote: “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 favour... I do recommend and
assign [this day of public Thanksgiving], to
be devoted by the people of these States to
the service of that great and glorious Being
who is the beneficent author of all the good
that was, that is, or that will be; that we
may then all unite in rendering unto Him our
sincere and humble thanks for His kind care
and protection of the people of this country.”
Like the Pilgrims, and many generations
since, we should hold sure that whatever
travails and straits we navigate, if we remain
steadfast in faith and obedience, God will see
us through under His care.
As Ronald Reagan noted in his 1982
Thanksgiving Proclamation, “Today we have more
to be thankful for than our Pilgrim mothers
and fathers who huddled on the edge of the New
World that first Thanksgiving Day could ever
dream of. We should be grateful not only for
our blessings, but for the courage and
strength of our ancestors, which enable us to
enjoy the lives we do today. Let us affirm
through prayers and actions our thankfulness
for America’s bounty and heritage.”
Indeed, we should: “Enter into His gates
with thanksgiving, and into His courts with
praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His
name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is
everlasting, and His truth endures to all
generations.” (Psalm 100:4-5)'
Thank you, Mark Alexander
Publisher of 'Patriot Post'
Permission granted to reprint
Now excerpts from another of Mr. Alexander's thoughtful articles
The Necessity of Thanksgiving
Wednesday,
November 21, 2007
"Tomorrow being the day set
apart by the Honorable Congress for public Thanksgiving and Praise; and
duty calling us devoutly to express our grateful acknowledgements to God
for the manifold blessings he has granted us, the General ... earnestly
exhorts, all officers and soldiers, whose absence is not indispensably
necessary, to attend with reverence the solemnities of the day." --George
Washington (December
17, 1777)
In this era of
overblown political correctness, we often hear tales of Thanksgiving
that stray far afield from the truth. Contemporary textbook narratives
of the first American harvest celebration portray the Pilgrim colonists
as having given thanks to their Indian neighbors for teaching them how
to survive in a strange new world.
This, of course, is in stark contrast to the historical record,
in which the colonists gave thanks to God Almighty, the Provider of
their blessings.
The "First
Thanksgiving" is usually depicted as the Pilgrims' three-day feast in
early November 1621. The Pilgrims, Calvinist Protestants who rejected
the institutional Church of England, believed that the worship of God
must originate freely in the individual soul, under no coercion. The
Pilgrims left Plymouth, England, on 6 September 1620, sailing to the New
World on the promise of opportunity for religious and civil liberty.
For almost three
months, 102 seafarers braved the brutal elements, arriving off what is
now the Massachusetts coast. On 11 December, before disembarking at
Plymouth Rock, the voyagers signed the
Mayflower Compact,
America's original document of civil government predicated on principles
of self-government. While still anchored at Provincetown harbor, Pastor
John Robinson counseled, "You are become a body politic ... and are to
have only them for your ... governors which yourselves shall make choice
of." Governor William Bradford described the Mayflower Compact as "a
combination ... that when they came a shore they would use their owne
libertie; for none had power to command them...."
Upon landing, the
Pilgrims conducted a prayer service and quickly turned to building
shelters. Malnutrition and illness during the ensuing New England winter
killed nearly half their number. Through prayer and hard work, with the
assistance of their Wampanoag Indian friends, the Pilgrims reaped a rich
harvest in the summer of 1621, the bounty of which they shared with the
Wampanoag. The celebration incorporated feasting and games, which remain
holiday traditions.
Such ready abundance
soon waned, however. Under demands from investors funding their
endeavor, the Pilgrims had acquiesced to a disastrous arrangement
holding all crops and property in common, in order to return an
agreed-to half of their produce to their overseas backers. (These
financiers insisted they could not trust faraway freeholders to split
the colony's profits honestly.) Within two years, Plymouth was in danger
of foundering under famine, blight and drought. Colonist Edward Winslow
wrote, "The most courageous were now discouraged, because God, which
hitherto had been our only shield and supporter, now seemed in his anger
to arm himself against us."
Governor Bradford's
record of the history of the colony describes 1623 as a period of
arduous work coupled with "a great drought ... without any rain and with
great heat for the most part," lasting from spring until midsummer. The
Plymouth settlers followed the Wampanoag's recommended cultivation
practices carefully, but their crops withered.
The Pilgrims soon
thereafter thought better of relying solely on the physical realm,
setting "a solemn day of humiliation, to seek the Lord by humble and
fervent prayer, in this great distress." In affirmation of their faith
and providing a great witness to the Indians, by evening of that day the
skies became overcast and gentle rains fell, restoring the yield of the
fields. Governor Bradford noted, "And afterwards the Lord sent to them
such seasonable showers, with interchange of fair warm weather as,
through His blessing caused a fruitful and liberal harvest, to their no
small comfort and rejoicing. For which mercy, in time convenient, they
also set apart a day of thanksgiving."
Winslow noted the
Pilgrims' reaction as believing "it would be great ingratitude, if
secretly we should smother up the same, or content ourselves with
private thanksgiving for that, which by private prayer could not be
obtained. And therefore another solemn day was set apart and appointed
for that end; wherein we returned glory, honor, and praise, with all
thankfulness, to our good God, which dealt so graciously with us...."
This was the
original American Thanksgiving Day, centered not on harvest feasting (as
in 1621) but on gathering together to publicly recognize the favor and
provision of Almighty God.
Bradford's diary
recounts how the colonists repented of their financial folly under sway
of their financiers: "At length, after much debate of things, the
Governor (with the advice of the chiefest amongst them) gave way that
they should set corn every man for his own particular, and in that
regard trust to themselves; in all other things to go in the general way
as before. And so assigned to every family a parcel of land, according
to the proportion of their number."
By the mid-17th
century, autumnal Thanksgivings were common throughout New England;
observance of Thanksgiving Festivals spread to other colonies during the
American Revolution. At other junctures of "great distress" or
miraculous intervention, colonial leaders called their countrymen to
offer prayerful thanks to God. The Continental Congresses, cognizant of
the need for a warring country's continuing grateful entreaties to God,
proclaimed yearly Thanksgiving days during the Revolutionary War, from
1777 to 1783.
In 1789, after
adopting the
Bill of Rights to
the
Constitution,
among the first official acts of Congress was approving a motion for
proclamation of a national day of thanksgiving, recommending that
citizens gather together and give thanks to God for their new nation's
blessings.
Presidents
George Washington, John Adams and James Madison followed the custom of
declaring national days of thanks, though it was not officially declared
again until another moment of national peril, when during the War
Between the States Abraham Lincoln invited "the whole American people"
to observe "a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father
... with humble penitence for our national perverseness and
disobedience." In 1941, Congress set permanently November's fourth
Thursday as our official national Thanksgiving.
The Pilgrims'
temporary folly of sundering and somersaulting the material as
transcendent over the Spiritual conveys an important lesson that modern
histories are reluctant to tell. The Founders, recognizing this, placed
first among constitutionally recognized rights the free exercise of
religion -- faith through action.
If what we seek is a continuance of
God’s manifold blessings, then a day of heartfelt Thanksgiving is a tiny
tribute indeed.
a Thanksgiving Quiz
This nation was
founded by Christians, and Thanksgiving is a time
when we can reflect upon this rich, Christian
heritage. This Thanksgiving quiz will test
your knowledge about our nation's biblical
foundations. We hope that you will not only
take this test and pass it on to others, but
we also hope that you will be encouraged to
study more about the Christian foundations of
this country.
1. What group began the
tradition of Thanksgiving?
A day of Thanksgiving was set aside by the
Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony. This
colony was the first permanent settlement in
New England. The Pilgrims were originally
known as the Forefathers or Founders. The term
Pilgrim was first used in the writings of
colonist William Bradford and is now used to
designate them.
2. Why did they celebrate
Thanksgiving?
Life was hard in the New World. Out of 103
Pilgrims, 51 of these died in the first
terrible winter. After the first harvest was
completed, Governor William Bradford
proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving and prayer.
By 1623, a day of fasting and prayer during a
period of drought was changed to one of
Thanksgiving because the rain came during
their prayers. The custom prevailed in New
England and eventually became a national
holiday.
3. When did Thanksgiving
become a national holiday?
The state of New York adopted Thanksgiving
Day as an annual custom in 1817. By the time
of the Civil War, many other states had done
the same. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln
appointed a day of Thanksgiving. Since then,
each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day
proclamation for the fourth Thursday of
November.
4. Why did the Pilgrims
leave Europe?
Among the early Pilgrims was a group of
Separatists who were members of a religious
movement that broke from the Church of England
during the 16th and 17th centuries. In 1606
William Brewster led a group of Separatists to
Leiden (in the Netherlands) to escape
religious persecution in England. After living
in Leiden for more than ten years, some
members of the group voted to emigrate to
America. The voyage was financed by a group of
London investors who were promised produce
from America in exchange for their assistance.
5. How did the Pilgrims
emigrate to the New World?
On September 16, 1620, a group numbering
102 men, women, and children left Plymouth,
England, for America on the Mayflower. Having
been blown off course from their intended
landing in Virginia by a terrible storm, the
Pilgrims landed at Cape Cod on November 11. On
December 21, they landed on the site of
Plymouth Colony. While still on the ship, the
Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact.
6. What is the Mayflower
Compact?
On November 11, 1620, Governor William
Bradford and the leaders upon the Mayflower
signed the Mayflower Compact before setting
foot on land. They wanted to acknowledge God's
sovereignty in their lives and their need to
obey Him. The Mayflower Compact was America's
first great constitutional document and is
often called "The American Covenant."
7. What is the
significance of the Mayflower Compact?
After suffering years of persecution in
England and spending difficult years of exile
in the Netherlands, the Pilgrims wanted to
establish their colony on the biblical
principles they suffered for in Europe. Before
they set foot on land, they drew up this
covenant with God. They feared launching their
colony until there was a recognition of God's
sovereignty and their collective need to obey
Him.
8. What does the Mayflower
Compact say?
In the name of God, Amen. We whose names
are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our
dread sovereign Lord, King James, by the grace
of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland
king, defender of the faith, etc., Having
undertaken, for the glory of God, and
advancement of the Christian faith, and honor
of our king and country, a voyage to plant the
first colony in the Northern parts of
Virginia, do by these present solemnly and
mutually in the presence of God, and one
another, covenant and combine ourselves
together into a civil body politic, for better
ordering and preservation and furtherance of
the ends foresaid, and by virtue hereof to
enact, constitute, and frame such just and
equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions
and offices, from time to time, as shall be
thought most meet and convenient for the
general good of the Colony, unto which we
promise all due submission and obedience. In
witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed
our names at Cape Cod the 11th of November, in
the year of the reign of our sovereign lord,
King James, of England, France, and Ireland.
9. Why didn't the pilgrims
sail to the original destination in Virginia?
The Pilgrims were blown off course and
landed at Cape Cod in what now appears to be
God's providence. Because their patent did not
include this territory, they consulted with
the Captain of the Mayflower and resolved to
sail southward. But the weather and geography
did not allow them to do so. They encountered
"dangerous shoals and roaring breakers" and
were quickly forced to return to Cape Cod.
From there they began scouting expeditions and
finally discovered what is now Plymouth. Had
they arrived just a few years earlier, they
would have been attacked and destroyed by one
of the fiercest tribes in the region. However,
three years earlier (in 1617), the Patuxet
tribe had been wiped out by a plague. The
Pilgrims thus landed in one of the few places
where they could survive.
10. What role did the lone
surviving Indian play in the lives of the
Pilgrims?
There was one survivor of the Patuxet
tribe: Squanto. He was kidnaped in 1605 by
Captain Weymouth and taken to England where he
learned English and was eventually able to
return to New England. When he found his tribe
had been wiped out by the plague, he lived
with a neighboring tribe. When Squanto learned
that the Pilgrims were at Plymouth, he came to
them and showed them how to plant corn and
fertilize with fish. He later converted to
Christianity. William Bradford said that
Squanto "was a special instrument sent of God
for their good beyond their expectation."
11. What was William
Bradford's proclamation for Thanksgiving?
Three years after their arrival, and two
years after the first Thanksgiving, Governor
Bradford made an official proclamation of a
day of Thanksgiving:
Inasmuch as the great Father has given us
this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn,
wheat, peas, beans, squashes, and garden
vegetables, and has made the forests to abound
with game and the sea with fish and clams, and
inasmuch as he has protected us from the
ravages of the savages, has spared us from
pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom
to worship God according to the dictates of
our own conscience; now I, your magistrate, do
proclaim that all Pilgrims, with your wives
and little ones, do gather at the meeting
house, on the hill, between the hours of 9 and
12 in the day time, on Thursday, November the
29th, of the year of our Lord one thousand six
hundred and twenty-three, and the third year
since Pilgrims landed on ye Pilgrim Rock,
there to listen to the pastor and render
thanksgiving to Almighty God for all His
blessings.
12. Were the colonists
dedicated to Christian principles in their
lives on days other than Thanksgiving?
The Pilgrims were, and so were the other
colonists. Consider this sermon by John
Winthrop given while aboard the Arabella in
1630. This is what he said about the Puritans
who formed the Massachusetts Bay Colony: "For
the persons, we are a Company professing
ourselves fellow members of Christ. . . . For
the work we have in hand, it is by a mutual
consent through a special overruling
providence, and a more than an ordinary
approbation of the Churches of Christ to seek
out a place of Cohabitation and Consortship
under a due form of Government both civil and
ecclesiastical." They established a Christian
Commonwealth in which every area of their
lives both civil and ecclesiastical fell under
the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
13. How did the Puritans
organize their economic activities?
After the first year, the colony foundered
because of the collective economic system
forced upon them by the merchants in London.
All the settlers worked only for the joint
partnership and were fed out of the common
stores. The land and the houses built on it
were the joint property of the merchants and
colonists for seven years and then divided
equally. When Deacon Carver died, William
Bradford became governor. Seeing the failure
of communal farming, he instituted what today
would be called free enterprise innovations.
Bradford assigned plots of land to each family
to work, and the colony began to flourish.
Each colonist was challenged to better
themselves and their land by working to their
fullest capacity. Many Christian historians
and economists today point to this fundamental
economic change as one of the key reasons for
the success of the Pilgrims at Plymouth.
14. What has been the
significance of the Pilgrims and their legacy
of Thanksgiving?
On the bicentennial celebration of the
landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock,
Daniel Webster on December 22, 1820, declared
the following: "Let us not forget the
religious character of our origin. Our fathers
were brought hither by their high veneration
for the Christian religion. They journeyed by
its light, and labored in its hope. They
sought to incorporate its principles with the
elements of their society, and to diffuse its
influence through all their institutions,
civil, political, or literary."
The legacy of the Pilgrims and Thanksgiving
is the legacy of godly men and women who
sought to bring Christian principles to this
nation. These spread throughout the nation for
centuries.
15. How were Christian
principles brought to the founding of this
republic?
Most historians will acknowledge that
America was born in the midst of a revival.
This occurred from approximately 1740-1770 and
was known as the First Great Awakening. Two
prominent preachers during that time were
Jonathan Edwards (best known for his sermon
"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God") and
George Whitfield. They preached up and down
the East Coast and saw revival break out.
Churches were planted, schools were built, and
lives were changed.
16. How influential were
Christian ideas in the Constitution?
While the Constitution does not
specifically mention God or the Bible, the
influence of Christianity can plainly be seen.
Professor M.E. Bradford shows in his book A
Worthy Company, that 50 of the 55 men who
signed the Constitution were church members
who endorsed the Christian faith. James
Madison, often known as the architect of
Constitution, said that: "We have staked the
whole future of the American civilization, not
upon the power of government, far from it. We
have staked the future . . . Upon the capacity
of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to
control ourselves, to sustain ourselves, according to the Ten Commandments of God."
17. Weren't many of the
founders non-Christians?
Yes, some were. And
there were those like Thomas Jefferson and
Benjamin Franklin, good examples of men
involved in the drafting of the Declaration,
who were influenced by ideas from the
Enlightenment. Yet revisionists have attempted
to make these men more secular than they
really were. Jefferson, for example, wrote to
Benjamin Rush that "I am a Christian . . .
sincerely attached to his doctrines, in
preference to all others." Franklin called for
prayer at the Constitutional Convention
saying, "God governs the affairs of men. And
if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without
his notice, is it probable that an empire can
rise without his notice?" While they were
hardly examples of biblical Christianity, they
nevertheless, believed in God and believed in
Absolute Standards which should be a part of
the civil order.
18. How important was
Christianity in colonial education in America?
Young colonists' education usually came
from the Bible, the Hornbook, and the New
England Primer. The Hornbook consisted of a
single piece of parchment attached to a paddle
of wood. Usually the alphabet, the Lord's
Prayer, and religious doctrines were written
on it. The New England Primer taught a number
of lessons and included such things as the
names of the Old and New Testament books, the
Lord's Prayer, the Apostles' Creed, the Ten
Commandments, the Westminster Shorter
Catechism, and John Cotton's "Spiritual Milk
for American Babies."
19. How important was
Christianity in colonial higher education?
Most of the major universities were
established by Christian denominations.
Harvard was a Puritan school. William and Mary
was an Anglican school. Yale was
Congregational, Princeton was Presbyterian,
and Brown was Baptist. The first motto for
Harvard was Veritas Christo et Ecclesiae
(Truth for Christ and the Church). Students
gathered for prayer and readings from the
Scriptures every day. Yale was established by
Increase Mather and Cotton Mather because
Harvard was moving away from its original
Calvinist philosophy and eventually drifted to
Unitarianism. The founders of Yale said that
"every student shall consider the main end of
his study to wit to know God in Jesus Christ
and answerably to lead a Godly, sober life."
20. If Christianity was so
important in colonial America, why does the
Constitution appear to establish a wall of separation
between church and state?
Contrary to what many Americans may think,
the phrase "separation of church and state"
does not appear anywhere in the Constitution.
In fact, there is no mention of the words
church, state, or separation in the First
Amendment or anywhere within the Constitution.
The First Amendment does guarantee freedom of
speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of the
press, and
freedom of religion.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Anderson, Kerby. "Thanksgiving Quiz." Probe
1996.
Probe Ministries is a non-profit corporation
whose mission is to reclaim the primacy of
Christian thought and values in Western
culture through media, education, and
literature. In seeking to accomplish this
mission, Probe provides perspective on the
integration of the academic disciplines and
historic Christianity.
THE AUTHOR
Kerby Anderson is the president of Probe
Ministries International. He received his B.S.
from Oregon State University, M.F.S. from Yale
University, and M.A. from Georgetown
University. He is the author of several books,
including Genetic Engineering, Origin Science,
Living Ethically in the 90s, Signs of Warning,
Signs of Hope, and Moral Dilemmas.
Copyright © 1996-1999 Probe Ministries
