How did George Washington celebrate Thanksgiving?

Nov. 22, 2012 4:39pm Meredith Jessup

President George 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 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.

President George Washington
New York
3 October, 1789

In CONTROL, Glenn Beck presents a passionate, fact-based case for guns that reveals why gun control isn’t really about controlling guns at all; it’s about controlling us. Find out more HERE.

Back to The Blaze »

Comments (4)

mrzmac
Posted on November 26, 2012 at 2:35pm
Wow…that really clarifies just how little faith our founding fathers’ put in God and it really solidifies the argument that our founding fathers’ were all non-believers. I especially love how George Washington shows us just how unimportant God’s blessings were to them using the following words…”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”. Yep, those founding fathers really wanted us to ensure that God was never mentioned, discussed, thought of, relied upon, or acknowledged in anyway…just read their words and you will see what they believed!

Report this comment
blackyb
Posted on November 25, 2012 at 11:50pm
My posts would be–where?

Report this comment
blackyb
Posted on November 25, 2012 at 11:46pm
Well, I imagine George sent Martha to the trading post on black fridays and he stayed home to oil his musket, sharpen his swords and dally with the maids ( some would say.) They, I am sure ate something good their maids cooked up, likely soul food. All of Georges little children looked forward to Christmas so they could get them an orange, an apple and likely a carved present of some type. The adults all had them some good strong spirits (some of the children must have sneaked a bit too) so they played fiddles and the like, and danced, the ones who never drank too much spirits. They left the rap music for later generations to play with and mock their parents and all authority with. These people still knew how to party, but to this day no one has figured out how to really cure a hangover, except with abstinence.

Report this comment
loneindividual
Posted on November 23, 2012 at 3:16am
He likely gave good prayers.

Most Deists I know, do not pray…I don’t…but for my own reasons.

I despise most other people’s reasons for not expressing thanks to their Creator.

If people think they know their God, then they should pour out the gratitude of their souls forever and always. Every breath should be a prayer if they know their God.

If people are not happy with what God has given them, then they are spoiled or wretched lost souls.

Regarding Atheists, I have one simple thing to say.

Give thanks unto First Life for having loved enough for the preservation of posterity.

Report this comment

Comments are closed.

It appears that you have Javascript Disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser preferences for a better user experience on TheBlaze. You can not comment without Javascript enabled.

« Back to The Blaze