United States Congress Proclamation (September 25, 1789) Congress unanimously approved a resolution asking President George Washington to issue a Proclamation of a National Day of Public Thanksgiving and Prayer:
<Friday, September 25, [1789]. Day of Thanksgiving. Resolved. That a joint committee of both Houses be directed to wait upon the President of the United States to request that he 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.> 1789US039
The Journals of Congress, documenting the discussions of Congress in regard to this proclamation, recorded the comments of Mr. Roger Sherman of Connecticut:
<Mr. Sherman justified the practice of Thanksgiving, on any signal event, not only as a laudable one in itself, but as warranted by a number of precedents in Holy Writ: for instance, the solemn thanksgivings and rejoicings which took place in the time of Solomon, after the building of the temple, was a case in point. This example, he thought, worthy of Christian imitation on the present occasion.> 1789US040
On October 3, 1789, from the city of New York, President George Washington issued a Proclamation of a National Day of Thanksgiving:
<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 thanks-giving 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 twenty-sixth day of November next, 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 His kind care and protection of the People of this country pervious 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 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 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 shown kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord, to promote the knowledge and practice of the 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 3rd of October, A.D. 1789.
Go Washington.> 1789US041
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1789US039. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). United States Congress. September 25, 1789, recommending a National Day of Public Thanksgiving and Prayer. Annals of the Congress of the United States-First Congress, The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States with an Appendix Containing Important State Papers and Public Documents and All the Laws of a Public Nature-with a Copious Index 42 vols. (Washington, D.C.: Gales & Seaton, 1834-56), Vol. I:914. Gary DeMar, America's Christian History: The Untold Story (Atlanta, GA: American Vision Publishers, Inc., 1993), pp. 53, 113. The Annals of America, 20 vols. (Chicago, IL: Encyclopedia Britannica, 1968, 1977), Vol. I, p. 914. Gary DeMar, Ruler of the Nations (Ft. Worth, TX: Dominion Press, 1987), p. 231. Gary DeMar, "Censoring America's Christian History" (Atlanta: The Biblical Worldview, An American Vision Publication-American Vision, Inc., July 1990), p. 5. Gary DeMar, "Does Anyone Have a Prayer?" (Atlanta: The Biblical Worldview, An American Vision Publication-American Vision, Inc.), p. 2.
1789US040. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). United States Congress. September 1789, Roger Sherman's comments justifying the National Day of Thanksgiving. Annals of the Congress of the United States-First Congress, The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States with an Appendix Containing Important State Papers and Public Documents and All the Laws of a Public Nature-with a Copious Index 42 vols. (Washington, D.C.: Gales & Seaton, 1834-56), 1789-1791, Vol. I, p. 914.
1789US041. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). United States Congress. October 3, 1789, National Day of Thanksgiving Proclamation issued by President George Washington from the city of New York. Jared Sparks, ed., The Writings of George Washington 12 vols. (Boston: American Stationer's Company, 1837, NY: F. Andrew's, 1834-1847), Vol. XII, p. 119. William Barclay Allen, ed., George Washington-A Collection (Indianapolis: Liberty Classics, Liberty Fund, Inc., 7440 N. Shadeland, Indianapolis, Indiana 46250, 1988; based almost entirely on materials reproduced from The Writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799/John Clement Fitzpatrick, editor), pp. 534-353. John Clement Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington, from the Original Manuscript Sources 1749- 1799, 39 vols. (Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1931-1944). James D. Richardson (U.S. Representative from Tennessee), ed., A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 1789-1897, 10 vols. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, published by Authority of Congress, 1897, 1899; Washington, D.C.: Bureau of National Literature and Art, 1789-1902, 11 vols., 1907, 1910), Vol. 1, p. 64. William J. Johnson, George Washington-The Christian (St. Paul, MN: William J. Johnson, Merriam Park, February 23, 1919; Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1919; reprinted Milford, MI: Mott Media, 1976; reprinted Arlington Heights, IL: Christian Liberty Press, 502 West Euclid Avenue, Arlington Heights, Illinois, 60004, 1992), pp. 173-174. John F. Schroeder, ed., Maxims of Washington (Mt. Vernon: Mt. Vernon Ladies' Association, 1942), p. 287. Anson Phelps Stokes and Leo Pfeffer, Church and State in the United States, 3 vols. (NY: Harper & Brothers, 1950), p. 87. Pat Robertson, America's Dates with Destiny (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1986), p. 112. John Eidsmoe, Christianity and the Constitution-The Faith of Our Founding Fathers (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, A Mott Media Book, 1987, 6th printing 1993), p. 118. Tim LaHaye, Faith of Our Founding Fathers (Brentwood, TN: Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers, Inc., 1987), pp. 105-106. D.P. Diffine, Ph.D., One Nation Under God-How Close a Separation? (Searcy, Arkansas: Harding University, Belden Center for Private Enterprise Education, 6th edition, 1992), p. 9. Gary DeMar, The Biblical Worldview (Atlanta, GA: An American Vision Publication-American Vision, Inc., 1992), Vol. 8, No. 12, p. 8. Gary DeMar, America's Christian History: The Untold Story (Atlanta, GA: American Vision Publishers, Inc., 1993), pp. 76-77.