After the victory of the Battle of Saratoga during the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress proclaimed
the first National Day of Thanksgiving, November 1, 1777:
"The
grateful feeling of their hearts... join the penitent confession of
their manifold sins... that it may please God, through the merits of
Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of remembrance...
and...
under the providence of Almighty God... secure for these United States
the greatest of all human blessings, independence and peace."
After John Paul Jones, commanding the
Bonhomme Richard, captured the British ship
HMS Serapis, the Continental Congress declared a
Day of Thanksgiving, which Governor Thomas Jefferson chose to proclaim for Virginia, November 11, 1779:
"Congress... hath thought proper... to recommend to the several States...
a day of public and solemn Thanksgiving to Almighty God, for his mercies, and of Prayer, for the continuance of his favour...
That He would go forth with our hosts and crown our arms with victory;
That
He would grant to His church, the plentiful effusions of Divine Grace,
and pour out His Holy Spirit on all Ministers of the Gospel;
That
He would bless and prosper the means of education, and spread the light
of Christian knowledge through the remotest corners of the earth...
I do therefore... issue this proclamation... appointing...
a day of public and solemn Thanksgiving and Prayer to Almighty God... Given under by hand... this 11th day of November, in the year of our Lord, 1779... Thomas Jefferson."
Get the DVD - The Real Intent of Thomas Jefferson on Separation of Church and State After traitor Benedict Arnold's plot to betray West Point was thwarted, the Continental Congress proclaimed
a Day of Thanksgiving, October 18, 1780:
"In
the late remarkable interposition of His watchful providence, in the
rescuing the person of our Commander-in-Chief and the army from imminent
dangers, at the moment when treason was ripened for execution...
it is therefore recommended...
a Day of Public Thanksgiving and Prayer...
to confess our unworthiness... and to offer fervent supplications to
the God of all grace... to cause the knowledge of Christianity to spread
over all the earth."
After British General Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, Congress proclaimed a
Day of Thanksgiving, October 11, 1782:
"It being the indispensable duty of all nations... to offer up their supplications to Almighty God...
the
United States in Congress assembled... do hereby recommend it to the
inhabitants of these states in general, to observe... the last
Thursday... of November next, as
a Day of Solemn Thanksgiving to God for all his mercies."
After the Treaty of Paris ended the Revolutionary War, John Hancock,
the former President of the Continental Congress now Governor of
Massachusetts, proclaimed
a Day of Thanksgiving, November 8, 1783:
"The Citizens of these United States have every Reason for Praise and
Gratitude
to the God of their salvation... I do... appoint... the 11th day of
December next (the day recommended by the Congress to all the States) to
be religiously observed as
a Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer, that
all the people may then assemble to celebrate... that he hath been
pleased to continue to us the Light of the Blessed Gospel...
That
we also offer up fervent supplications... to cause pure Religion and
Virtue to flourish... and to fill the world with his glory."
Get the book, America's God and Country Encyclopedia of QuotationsAfter the U.S. Congress passed the First Amendment, it requested President George Washington issue
a National Day of Thanksgiving, which he did, October 3, 1789:
"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... Thursday, the
26TH DAY of NOVEMBER
... to be devoted by the People of these United 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 the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government...
particularly
the national one now lately instituted, for the civil and religious
liberty with which we are blessed... to promote the knowledge and
practice of true religion and virtue."
After the Treaty of Ghent ended the War of 1812, President James Madison proclaimed
a Day of Thanksgiving, March 4, 1815:
"The
Senate and House of Representatives...signified their desire that a
day may...be observed by the people of the United States with religious
solemnity as
a Day of Thanksgiving and of devout acknowledgments to Almighty God for His great goodness manifested in restoring to them the blessing of peace.
No
people ought to feel greater obligations to celebrate the goodness of
the Great Disposer of Events and of the Destiny of Nations than the
people of the United States.
His
kind Providence originally conducted them to one of the best portions
of the dwelling place allotted for the great family of the human race.
He protected...them under all the difficulties and trials to which they were exposed in their early days...
In the arduous struggle...they were distinguished by multiplied tokens of His benign interposition...
He...enabled
them to assert their national rights and to enhance their national
character in another arduous conflict, which is now so happily
terminated by a peace and reconciliation with those who have been our
enemies.
And to the same Divine Author of Every Good and Perfect
Gift we are indebted for all those privileges and advantages,
religious as well as civil, which are so richly enjoyed in this favored
land...
I now recommend...
a Day on which the
people of every religious denomination may in their solemn assemblies
unite their hearts and their voices in a freewill offering to their
Heavenly Benefactor of their homage
of Thanksgiving and of their songs of praise.
Given...in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifteen... James Madison."
Great for Thanksgiving! PRAYERS AND PRESIDENTS-Inspiring Faith from Leaders of the PastAmerican Minute archives
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