Thursday, November 27, 2008

First U.S. Thanksgiving Proclamation

Happy Thanksgiving.
From STR:
Henry Laurens as President of the Continental Congress issued the country's first Thanksgiving Day proclamation on Dec. 18, 1777.
That at one Time and with one Voice, the good People may express the grateful Feelings of their Hearts, and consecrate themselves to the Service of their Divine Benefactor; and that, together with their sincere Acknowledgments and Offerings, they may join the penitent Confession of their manifold Sins, whereby they had forfeited every Favor; and their humble and earnest Supplication that it may please GOD through the Merits of JESUS CHRIST, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of Remembrance; That it may please him ­graciously to afford his Blessing on the Governments of these States respectively, and prosper the public Council of the whole.
1777 was about a year and a half into the Revolutionary War, when the outcome was still far from known. In fact, the U.S. army under the command of General Washington had experienced significant losses that year. This was the winter George Washington and his men billeted at Valley Forge. (read the rest here)

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