FROM THE THANKSGIVING ARCHIVES: THANKS, MR. TIMEX:

Remembering Thanksgiving's political past (Dr. Michael L. Coulter, NOVEMBER 25, 2003, Grove City College)

Thanksgiving celebrations in American during its colonial era were sporadic and based on local traditions. The first national celebration of Thanksgiving was a political act: it was called by the Continental Congress in 1777 and offered thanks for a military victory. In five of the next six years (1782 excluded), national days of thanksgiving were celebrated in December.

The next national day of Thanksgiving was called by George Washington in October 1789 and was accompanied by a proclamation of Thanksgiving.

He said, in part, "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� 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."

He thanked God "for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a nation, for the signal and manifold mercies�which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war�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 �and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us."

Washington's proclamation focused on �political� blessings, not the harvest.

A national day of Thanksgiving did not become an annual event. Washington issued another proclamation in 1795 as a day of thanksgiving for general blessings. John Adams declared Thanksgivings in 1798 and 1799. The next national day of thanksgiving did not take place until 1815, when James Madison proclaimed two different days of thanksgiving for the end of the War of 1812.

Odd that Washington, Adams and Jefferson didn't ask us all to thank the blind watchmaker or something like that...

(originally posted: November 26, 2003)

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 25, 2010 12:18 AM
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