[Rhodes22-list] George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation

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Hope this comes through in it's entirety. Happy Thanksgiving all.  





 














 
George Washington's 1789  Thanksgiving Proclamation 


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 and 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  
signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His  providence 
in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great  degree of 
tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for  the peaceable and 
rational manner in which we have been enable 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 the means we have of  acquiring and diffusing useful 
knowledge; and, in general, for all the  great and various favors which He has been 
pleased to confer upon us. 
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 enable us all, whether in  
public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties  properly 
and punctually; 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  shown kindness to us), and 
to bless them with good governments, peace, and  concord; to promote the 
knowledge and practice of true religion and  virtue, and the increase 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. 

Given  under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D.  
1789. 







G. Washington (his actual signature)  
____________________________________
 

NOTE: 
Shortly  after the Thanksgiving Proclamation was written, it was lost for 
130  years. The original document was written in long hand by William 
Jackson,  secretary to the President, and was then signed by George Washington. It  
was probably misplaced or mixed in with some private papers when the US  
capitol moved from New York to Washington, D.C. The original manuscript  was 
not placed in the National Archives until 1921 when Dr. J. C.  Fitzpatrick, 
assistant chief of the manuscripts division of the Library of  Congress found 
the proclamation at an auction sale being held at an art  gallery in New 
York. Dr Fitzpatrick purchased the document for $300.00 for  the Library of 
Congress, in which it now resides. It was the first  official presidential 
proclamation issued in the United  States.