Our first Thanksgiving was, of course, held by the Pilgrims in the fall of 1621. Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation [of 1789] was our first national Thanksgiving. Abraham Lincoln in 1863 made it an annual national holiday to be celebrated on the last Thursday of November. Originally it was a day of thanks and prayer and supplication and request for divine blessing. A few helpings of these would go nicely and wouldn’t hurt with the stuffing and gravy of today.1
—William J. Bennett—
Key point: Reading Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789 underscores for us where we started as a nation, how far we have departed from that place, and our urgent need to return. We must repent of our national sins and humbly ask God for forgiveness, then consistently live according to the laws He graciously has revealed to us. Without doing these things, America will forfeit authentic liberty and slide into tyranny.
On October 3, 1789 in New York City, the then-capital of the United States, President George Washington issued the new nation’s first proclamation designating a day of national prayer and Thanksgiving. While it wasn’t the first proclamation in America since 1776, it was the first since the ratification and implementation of the Constitution drafted and sent to the states 1787 and fully adopted in 1788.
Significantly, too, it was issued before the Constitution contained a Bill of Rights. President Washington nevertheless affirmed unalienable rights in the declaration when he challenged Americans to thank God “for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed” — but we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s back up just a bit so we can understand the historical context of the pronouncement.
The Genesis of President Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation
Ron Soodalter of historynet.com writes,
The origin of the proclamation was unique in that it was formally requested by congressional vote on a memorable day for both chambers. On September 25, 1789, Congress passed the first constitutional amendments, which state legislatures would eventually ratify as the Bill of Rights. To crown the day’s accomplishments, Elias Boudinot (pronounced BOO-di-not), representative from New Jersey, introduced the Thanksgiving resolution in the House, stating that he “could not think of letting the session pass over without offering an opportunity to all the citizens of the United States of joining with one voice, in returning to Almighty God their sincere thanks for the many blessings he had poured down upon them.” Boudinot proposed “that a joint committee of both Houses be directed to wait upon the President of the United States, to request that he would 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 Constitution of government for their safety and happiness.”…
The resolution was opposed by Anti-Federalists, who also had opposed the ratification of the Constitution because they felt it gave the federal government too much power. They believed the national government would be overstepping its bounds to designate such a day for the entire nation. Thomas Tudor Tucker, a member of the House of Representatives from South Carolina, held that
the House had no business to interfere in a matter which did not concern them. Why should the President direct the people to do what, perhaps, they have no mind to do? They may not be inclined to return thanks for a Constitution until they have experienced that it promotes their safety and happiness. We do not yet know but they may have reason to be dissatisfied with the effects it has already produced; but whether this be so or not, it is a business with which Congress have nothing to do; it is a religious matter, and, as such, is proscribed to us. If a day of thanksgiving must take place, let it be done by the authority of the several States.
Nevertheless, both houses of Congress approved the resolution, and Washington issued the proclamation. Significantly, he acknowledged the legitimacy of state governments in the matter; he notified the governors about the proclamation and asked them to encourage participation among the citizens of their respective states. As well as anyone, President Washington understood what was constitutional and what was not, for he had presided over the 1787 Constitutional Convention as its president (depicted in the painting displayed at the top by Howard Chandler Christy).
An Enthusiastic National Response
The American people welcomed the president’s pronouncement enthusiastically; they willingly and readily marked the occasion in their communities and homes: “Newspapers carried verbatim transcriptions, and public events were held throughout the country. Churches took advantage of the occasion to call for donations for the poor.” As you read the proclamation, which I’ve reproduced in full below, note these and other tenets in it that Americans today are habitually neglecting or have rejected outright. As a people, we are doing this to our own peril.
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- God exists.
- We are accountable to Him and have responsibilities — duties — to fulfill before Him.
- Nations as well as individuals are accountable.
- God is supremely good; He is “the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.”
- He watches over nations and national affairs.
- The people of a nation do well to unite in acknowledging Him and His blessings.
- A nation’s citizens should ask God to forgive them of their sins or “transgressions.”
- God’s blessings include the national order that arises from obeying civil laws — laws that clearly are rooted in absolute truth, a recognition of which is essential to authentic liberty. Liberty is fragile; it can only exist on a foundation of laws that recognize the inherent rights and dignity of all.
- Citizens do well to ask for divine direction, that God would “render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws…” and that He would “promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue.”
- God is all-wise, for “He alone knows…best.”
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Eye-Opening, and Even “Shocking”
Titled “The Most Shocking Part of George Washington’s Thanksgiving Day Proclamation,” this article from First Liberty Institute highlights some of these themes in Washington’s 1789 presidential announcement, as well as several others. Earlier we said that the first Thanksgiving proclamation under the newly ratified Constitution was issued “before the Constitution contained a Bill of Rights,” and that “President Washington nevertheless affirmed unalienable rights in the declaration when he challenged Americans to thank God ‘for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed.'”
Here’s how Lathan Watts, the Director of Public Affairs for First Liberty Institute, frames this reality:
Just weeks after the Bill of Rights was sent to the states for ratification and during a time when their adoption was still very much in question, Washington recognized and called on Americans to thank God for rights that too many Americans today don’t understand — and are even willing to sacrifice — like religious liberty.
Watts continues:
Washington’s Thanksgiving proclamation, much like the man himself, is profound in both brevity and eloquence. Yet, the greatest value to the modern reader might just be the stark contrast it provides between our founding generation’s vision for their infant nation and the wandering prodigal son into which we have grown. Indeed, Washington repeatedly referenced the Divine as the source of our rights, peace, and prosperity.
Perhaps most shocking to many Americans today is his specific admonition that that “good government” would promote “the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue.” For Washington, religious liberty didn’t mean government neutrality toward religion. To him and his fellow founders, religion, virtue, and liberty were inexorably linked.
For Washington, religious liberty didn’t mean government neutrality toward religion. To him and his fellow founders, religion, virtue, and liberty were inexorably linked.
—Lathan Watts—
The bulleted ideals and principles listed above, as well as the others that Mr. Watts cites in his article — all of them — need to be rediscovered and upheld once again in our nation. Our nation’s first president and the other men who founded the United States of America were imperfect men, of course; but they got a great deal right, and George Washington’s proclamation showcases some of the many truths they wisely understood. (You can explore some of America’s founding principles in this article and in this Bible study.)
By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation
Issued by President George Washington, at the request of Congress, on October 3, 1789
By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.
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 and 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 favor, able interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquillity, 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 has 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 trangressions; 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 shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, 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.
Go. Washington
Fast Forward 233 Years
Today, in 2022, what should be our response as we read our nation’s first president’s Thanksgiving Proclamation, issued when the nation still was in its infancy? In addition to gaining a better appreciation for our national Christian heritage, I believe we need to acquire a keen awareness of God’s holiness and our responsibilities before Him. Consistent with this sentiment are the concluding statements of an article published last year by the Family Policy Institute of Washington (FPIW), headquartered in the state of Washington in the Pacific Northwest. On Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 2021, the FPIW staff released an article that directed readers’ attention to portions of President Washington’s 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation that are especially instructive for Americans today. The end of that article provides a fitting conclusion to our post today.
In his Thanksgiving Proclamation, Washington declared that we may thank God “for his protection of the People of this Country…for the signal and manifold mercies…for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed…for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed…and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.”
Over 200 years later, God has continued to bless us with each of these things. In addition to thanking God through our prayers and supplications, now is also the time to “beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions.” The Lord wants to show us tremendous mercy, but we must continue to ask for it.
In addition to thanking God through our prayers and supplications, now is also the time to “beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions.” The Lord wants to show us tremendous mercy, but we must continue to ask for it.
—Family Policy Institute of Washington—
As we pause and reflect on all that He has given us, let us also pray for continued protection, courage, and wisdom in the fight for the Truth of Christ Jesus!…
We thank God for those who continue boldly defending family, life, faith, and freedom in the public square and we are eternally grateful to serve beside those called to seek and defend His glory in Jesus’s name.
Have a blessed and safe Thanksgiving.
Visit www.discoverbedrocktruth.org/thanksgiving for access to resources that explore historical lessons arising from the Pilgrims’ experiences at Plymouth. Additional Thanksgiving-themed articles are available on this page.
Copyright © 2022 by B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.
1William J. Bennett, Our Sacred Honor: Words of Advice from the Founders in Stories, Letters, Poems and Speeches (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1997), 386.
Great and needed article!
Thank you Oscar! Happy Thanksgiving to you and everyone close to you! — B. Nathaniel Sullivan