Thanksgiving Day Proclamation Inbox
By Michael W. Ellis
244 years ago, Congress passed the following Thanksgiving Day proclamation, “recommending to the states”—
“A day of publick and solemn THANKSGIVING to Almighty God for His mercies”—“His goodness wrought in conducting our forefathers to this western world; …that the earth hath produced her increase in abundance; …that He hath shielded our troops …pointed their swords to victory; …prospered our commerce; …and above all, that He hath diffused the ‘glorious light of the Gospel,’” [2 Cor 4:4] “whereby, through the merits of our gracious Redeemer,” [Jesus Christ] “we may become the heirs of His ‘eternal glory’” [2 Tim 2:10].
“And of PRAYER ….that He would influence our publick Councils …pour out His Holy Spirit on all Ministers of the Gospel …and spread the light of Christian knowledge through the remotest corners of the earth; …that He would in mercy pardon our sins, receive us into His favour; and finally, that He would establish the independence of these United States upon the basis of religion and virtue” (issued by General George Washington, Governor Thomas Jefferson, November 1779).
From her earliest beginnings, America was unashamedly a Christian nation. This is not opinion but well documented in our founders’ Congressional proclamations and prayers, U.S. Supreme Court decisions, state constitutions, and public-school textbooks. The Lord Jesus Christ and His gospel were nationally, publicly, and exclusively avowed.
Today America’s Christian heritage is being stamped out—history denied and rewritten!
The Bible warns—
- “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God” (Psa 9:17).
- “The nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.” (Isa 60:12).
DOCUMENTATION
- Governor of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson, Proclamation Appointing a Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer, 11 November 1779
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-03-02-0187
- General George Washington, General Orders, 27 November 1779 (the same proclamation, slightly abbreviated, for the army)https://founders.archives.gov/?q=%22public%20and%20solemn%20thanksgiving%22%20&s=1111311111&r=1
