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Thanksgiving can be traced back to the early Pilgrims around 1621
as they held a feast to celebrate God's wonderful blessings upon them. Some friendly Indians reportedly joined
with them in this expression of thanks to God.
Years later, President George Washington declared a special one-time day of Thanksgiving for the new nation.
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George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving 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 favorable interpositions of His providence 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 enable 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 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 show 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 3d dy of October, A.D. 1789.
(signed) G. Washington
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Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation
President Abraham Lincoln also believed strongly in giving thanks for blessings
received. On November 28, 1861 he ordered that all government offices close for a special day of thanksgiving.
Then, in October 1863 he made Thanksgiving a national holiday with the following proclamation that reportedly had
been written by Secretary of State William Seward:
By the President of the United States of America.
Washington, D.C.
October 3, 1863
A Proclamation.
The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful
skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they
come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften
even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.
In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to
invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the
laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict;
while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions
of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough,
the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and
coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased,
notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing
in the consiousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase
of freedom.
No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts
of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It
has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one
heart and one voice by the whole American People.
I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and
those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day
of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while
offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with
humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have
become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged,
and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it
as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and
Union.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.
By the President: Abraham Lincoln
William H. Seward,
Secretary of State |
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Further Words of Thanksgiving
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will
guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. - Phlippians 4:6-7
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ
Jesus. - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
- Psalm 100 - A psalm. For giving thanks.
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will
give thanks to him in song.
- Psalm 28:7
You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to
you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever. - Psalm 30:11-12
These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with
the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive
throng. - Psalm 42:4
Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. - Psalm 95:2
Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. - Psalm 106:1
Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him....
- Job 13:15
Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows
opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just
as he had done before.
- Daniel 6:10
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always
giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Ephesians 5:19-20
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing
psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or
deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
- Colossians 3:16-17
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became
futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
- Romans 1:21
I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone — for kings
and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good,
and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is
one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the
testimony given in its proper time. - 1 Timothy 2:1-6
Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
- 2 Corinthians 9:15
All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down
on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks
and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!"
- Revelation 7:11-12
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