Some of the finest proclamations of thanksgiving that we could find are compiled here. You may be familiar with some of these, but one may surprise you.
The first great Thanksgiving proclamation I want to mention here is that of William Bradford, the Pilgrim Governor of the Massachusetts Colony of New England.
Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, peas, beans, squashes, and garden vegetables, and has made the forests to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as He has protected us from the ravages of the savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience.
Now I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with your wives and ye little ones, do gather at ye meeting house, on ye hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the daytime, on Thursday, November 29th, of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty three and the third year since ye Pilgrims landed on ye Pilgrim Rock, there to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings."
William Bradford
Ye Governor of Ye Colony [i]
The next great Thanksgiving proclamation before you was given by our first President, George Washington, who on October 3, 1789 designated Thursday, November 26 as a National Day of Thanks after a resolution was passed by Congress. This was made just after the creation of the United States Constitution. Here is part of that statement from Washington.
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 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 civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed…
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 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 shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord--To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease 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.[ii]
It would be difficult to leave out the great Thanksgiving proclamation of Abraham Lincoln in 1863 for two reasons. One – because this was the proclamation that began the American Thanksgiving tradition we still observe today. Two – because it was given right in the midst of our nation’s horrible Civil War.
In it, he mentions the blessings of “fruitful fields and healthful skies.” It reads in part:
To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come…
Concerning the war he added that although the states were warring with the others, thanks could be given for the absence of foreign aggression at such a time. Also he expressed gratitude that industry, mining, agriculture and commerce continued to grow as well as the population. From there we read:
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.[iii]
Finally, going back in time close to 1,000 years before Christ, we have King David. God had told David that he would not be allowed to build the temple of God which he so longed to do. Instead, God would give that privilege to David’s son, Solomon, but before he died, David gathered the materials for Solomon to construct it. Below is a part of David’s great thanksgiving proclamation just before he died. This he said and “blessed the LORD before all the congregation, and David said,”
Blessed be thou, LORD God of Israel our father, for ever and ever. Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.[iv]
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