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Beware lest we forget

It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord" (Psalm 92:1)

Three centuries later, President Calvin Coolidge would say this of the Pilgrims:
"Measured by the standards of men of their time, [they] were the humble of the earth.  Measured by later acomplishments, they were the mighty. In appearance weak and persecuted they came -- rejected, despised -- an insignificant band; in reality strong and independent, a mighty host of whom the world was not worthy, destined to free mankind."  --President Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)  

The first national Thanksgiving was declared in 1777 by the Continental Congress after British General John Burgoyne's defeat at Saratoga, New York, Oct. 17, which marked a turning point in the Revolutionary War.

November 1, 1777

"Forasmuch as it is the indispensable Duty of all Men to adore the superintending providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with Gratitude their Obligation to him for benefits received, and to implore such further Blessings as they stand in Need of:

And it having pleased him in his abundant Mercy, not only to continue to us the innumerable Bounties of his common providence; but also to smile upon us in the Prosecution of a just and necessary War, for the Defence and Establishment of our inalienable Rights and Liberties...

It is therefore recommended to the legislative or executive Powers of these UNITED STATES, to set apart THURSDAY, the eighteenth Day of December next, for the Solemn Thanksgiving and Praise:

That at one Time and with one voice, the good People may express themselves to the Service of their Divine Benefactor... And it is further recommended, That servile labour, and such Recreations, as, though at other Times innocent, may be unbecoming the Purpose of this Appointment, be omitted on so solemn an Occasion."

In 1789, soon after adopting the Bill of Rights, a motion was passed in Congress to initiate the proclamation of a national day of thanksgiving.

Elias Boudinot, who was President of Congress during the American Revolution, said he could not think of letting the congressional session pass over without offering an opportunity to all the citizens of the United States to join with one voice in returning to Almighty God their sincere thanks for the many blessings e had poured down upon them.

The President agreed with this resolution and issued the following proclamation, parts of which read:

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… for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; 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 with which we are blessed…

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplication to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions…

Other Thanksgivings were declared from time to time until 1815.

The holiday then reverted to being a regional observance until 1863.

Both the North and South maintained the tradition of independent state Thanksgivings into the Civil War period.

The Confederate Congress declared a Sunday thanksgiving for July 28, 1861 after their victory at Bull Run, and another for Thursday, September 18, 1862, for their victory at the Second Battle of Bull Run.

The first national Thanksgiving holiday to be declared by the U.S. government since 1815 occurred in 1862 when President Lincoln declared a Thanksgiving holiday for Sunday, April 13, following the Union victory at Shiloh, Tennessee.

Lincoln declared another national Thanksgiving for August 6, 1863, in recognition of the victory at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

On October 3, 1863, President Lincoln again declared a national Thanksgiving year for the last Thursday in November.
This Thanksgiving became the first in the unbroken series of our modern holiday tradition.

President Lincoln's 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation
The year that is drawing toward 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 can not 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… 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 theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

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 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 imposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the divine purpose, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, and union.

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