Thanksgiving Proclamations: Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Lincoln, Roosevelt & More

During the days of America’s founding, colonies would declare:

• days of prayer when times were bad;
• days of fasting when times were real bad; and
• days of thanksgiving when things turned around.

This developed into many colonies, like New Hampshire and Massachusetts, having annual days of fasting, often on Good Friday.

This is evidence that colonists were not deists, who believed God set the laws of nature in place and then let the world run on its own. 

America’s founders believed in a living relationship with God, where:

• if people sinned, He would call them to repent;
• if they did not repent, He would let judgement come; and
• then when they repented, He would send deliverance.

During a threaten war, Ben Franklin published a proclamation of a General Fast in the Pennsylvania Gazette, December 12, 1747:”The calamities of a bloody war … seem every year more nearly to approach us … and there is just reason to fear that unless we humble ourselves before the Lord and amend our ways, we may be chastized with yet heavier judgments.

We have … thought fit … to appoint … a Day of Fasting … to join with one accord in the most humble & fervent supplications that Almighty God would mercifully interpose and still the rage of war among the nations & put a stop to the effusion of Christian blood.”

Thomas Jefferson drafted a Day of Fasting for Virginia in 1774 to be observed on the day British ships blockaded Boston’s harbor.”With apprehension … from the hostile invasion of the city of Boston … whose commerce and harbor are … to be stopped by an armed force, deem it highly necessary that the said first day of June be set apart, by the members of this House, as a Day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer, devoutly to implore the Divine interposition.”

After the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed July 4, 1776, the first “National” Day of Thanksgiving was declared by the Continental Congress on November 1, 1777, to celebrate victory over British General Burgoyne atthe Battle of Saratoga:

“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 on September 23, 1779, the Continental Congress declared a Day of Thanksgiving, recommending that the states do likewise.

In accordance with this, Virginia Governor Thomas Jefferson proclaimed 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.”

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, Congress recommended that the States declare a Day of Thanksgiving.

Massachusetts Governor John Hancock, who was a former President of the Continental Congress, 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.”

After passing the Bill of Rights, which included the First Amendment, Congress requested President George Washington issue a National Day of Thanksgiving, which he did, October 3, 1789:”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 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.”

A Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania almost caused the new American Republic to fall into chaos.

When is was peacefully resolved, President George Washington proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving, September 25, 1794:”Resolved, in perfect reliance on that gracious Providence which so signally displays its goodness towards this country to reduce the refractory to a due subordination to the law …To call to mind that, as the people of the United States have been permitted, under Divine favor, in perfect freedom, after solemn deliberation, and in an enlightened age, to elect their own government,so will their gratitude for this inestimable blessing be best distinguished by firm exertions to maintain the Constitution and the laws.”

On January 1, 1795, President George Washington proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving:“When we review the calamities, which afflict so many other nations … the great degree of internal tranquility we have enjoyed -the recent confirmation of that tranquility by the suppression of an insurrection which so wantonly threatened it – the happy course of public affairs in general -the unexampled prosperity of all classes of our citizens; are circumstances which peculiarly mark our situation with indications of the Divine beneficence towards us.In such a state of things it is, in an especial manner, our duty as people, with devout reverence and affectionate gratitude, to acknowledge our many and great obligations to Almighty God and to implore Him to continue and confirm the blessings we experience …

… I, George Washington, President of the United States, do recommend to all religious societies and denominations, and to all persons whomsoever, within the United States,to set apart … a Day of public Thanksgiving and Prayer: and on that day to meet together and render their sincere and hearty thanks to the great Ruler of Nations.”

After the War of 1812 was ended with the Treaty of Ghent,President James Madison proclaimed a National 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.”

Miracles in American History-Vol. TWO: Amazing Faith that Shaped the Nation

Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the first “Annual” National Day of Thanksgiving, Washington, D.C., October 3, 1863:”In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity …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 … 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 United States the Eighty-eighth.By the President: Abraham Lincoln, William H. Seward, Secretary of State.”

America was spared a global cholera pandemic, as referenced in President Grover Cleveland’sNational Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer Proclamation, November 1, 1888:”On that day let all our people suspend their ordinary work and occupations, and in their accustomed places of worship, with prayer and songs of praise, render thanks to God for all His mercies …And mindful of the afflictive dispensations with which a portion of our land has been visited, let us, while we humble ourselves before the power of God, acknowledge His mercy in setting bounds to the deadly march of pestilence, and let our hearts be chastened by sympathy with our fellow-countrymen who have suffered and who mourn.And as we return thanks for all the blessings which we have received from the hand of our Heavenly Father, let us not forget that He has enjoined upon us charity;and on this day of thanksgiving let us generously remember the poor and needy, so that our tribute of praise and gratitude may be acceptable in the sight of the Lord.”

On the 100th anniversary of Washington’s Inauguration, President Benjamin Harrison issued a National Day of Prayers and Thanksgiving, April 4, 1889:“George Washington took the oath of office as Chief Magistrate of the new-born Republic.This impressive act was preceded at 9 o’clock in the morning in all the churches of the city by prayer for God’s blessing on the Government and its first President …In order that the joy of the occasion may be associated with a deep thankfulness in the minds of the people for all our blessings in the past and a devout supplication to God for their gracious continuance in the future,the representatives of the religious creeds, both Christian and Hebrew, have memorialized the Government to designate an hour for prayer and thanksgiving on that day.”

In his National Day of Thanksgiving Proclamation, October 29, 1900, President William McKinley acknowledged the charitable help given to the city of Galveston after a hurricane:“The works of religion and charity have everywhere been manifest …We have been generally exempt from pestilence and other great calamities; and even the tragic visitation which overwhelmed the city of Galveston made evident the sentiments of sympathy and Christian charity by virtue of which we are one united people.Now, therefore, I, William McKinley, President of the United States, do hereby appoint and set apart Thursday, the 29th of November next, to be observed by all the people of the United States, at home or abroad, as a day of thanksgiving and praise to Him who holds the nations in the hollow of His hand …and that they humbly pray for the continuance of His Divine favor, for concord and amity with other nations, and for righteousness and peace in all our ways.”

President Theodore Roosevelt acknowledged how rare America is in his National Day of Praise and Thanksgiving Proclamation, October 24, 1903:”During the last year the Lord has dealt bountifully with us …It behooves us not only to rejoice greatly because of what has been given us, but to accept it with a solemn sense of responsibility, realizing that under Heaven it rests with us ourselves to show that we are worthy to use aright what has thus been entrusted to our care.

… In no other place and at no other time has the experiment of government of the people, by the people, for the people, been tried on so vast a scale as here in our own country in the opening years of the 20th Century.Failure would not only be a dreadful thing for us, but a dreadful thing for all mankind, because it would mean loss of hope for all who believe in the power and the righteousness of liberty.Therefore, in thanking God for the mercies extended to us in the past, we beseech Him that He may not withhold them in the future.”

President Franklin Roosevelt had proclaimed the first National Bible Week in 1941. Since then, every session of Congress has designated Thanksgiving week as National Bible Week.Rep. Mike Johnson stated in a Special session of the U.S. House (CSPAN):”Recognizing the 77th annual National Bible Week in America … This is a declaration first made by President Franklin D. Roosevelt just weeks before the start of World War II.”

Through the decades, Presidents declared National Days of Thanksgiving, many of which are contained in the book Prayers and Presidents – Inspiring Faith from Leaders of the Past.

Continuing this tradition, President Donald J. Trump wrote in his Thanksgiving Proclamation, November 23, 2017:”On Thanksgiving Day, as we have for nearly four centuries, Americans give thanks to Almighty God for our abundant blessings.We gather with the people we love to show gratitude for our freedom, for our friends and families, and for the prosperous Nation we call home.

… In July 1620, more than 100 Pilgrims boarded the Mayflower, fleeing religious persecution and seeking freedom and opportunity in a new and unfamiliar place.These dauntless souls arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in the freezing cold of December 1620.They were greeted by sickness and severe weather, and quickly lost 46 of their fellow travelers.

… Those who endured the incredible hardship of their first year in America, however, had many reasons for gratitude.They had survived. They were free. And, with the help of the Wampanoag tribe, and a bountiful harvest, they were regaining their health and strength.

… In thanks to God for these blessings, the new governor of the Plymouth Colony, William Bradford, proclaimed a day of thanksgiving and gathered with the Wampanoag tribe for three days of celebration.For the next two centuries, many individual colonies and states, primarily in the Northeast, carried on the tradition of fall Thanksgiving festivities …We can see, in the courageous Pilgrims who stood on Plymouth Rock in new land, the intrepidness that lies at the core of our American spirit.Just as the Pilgrims did, today Americans stand strong, willing to fight for their families and their futures, to uphold our values, and to confront any challenge …

… As one people, we seek God’s protection, guidance, and wisdom, as we stand humbled by the abundance of our great Nation and the blessings of freedom, family, and faith.NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 23, 2017, as a National Day of Thanksgiving.I encourage all Americans to gather, in homes and places of worship, to offer a prayer of thanks to God for our many blessings.”