The Origin of Thanksgiving-2

  Continuing with more evidence of to whom we offer gratitude on Thanksgiving? Once again, let the words of the Founding Fathers inform us of the direction of their gratitude:
 
10.On October 3, 1789, from the U.S. Capitol in New York City, President George Washington issued the first Proclamation of a National Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer to Almighty God," as just one week earlier the first session of the United States Congress finally approved the wording of the First Ten Amendments limiting the power of the Federal Government.
 
11.The Congress of the United States January 1, 1795, President Washington gave his renown National Day of Thanksgiving, which declared Thursday, the 19th of February, 1795 as a National Day of Thanksgiving.
 
12.The Congress of the United States October 3, 1863, as proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln passed an Act of Congress designating the first annual Day of Thanksgiving
 
13.On October 21, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln issued the second annual Day of Thanksgiving on the last Thursday in November.
 
14.President Ulysses S. Grant noted in his 1870 proclamation:
Whereas it behooves a people sensible of their dependence on the Almighty publicly and collectively to acknowledge their gratitude for His favors and mercies and humbly to beseech for their continuance ...
 
15.Therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, do hereby designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th day of the present month of November 1893, as a day of thanksgiving and praise to be kept and observed by all the people of our land.
 
16.I, WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT, President of the United States of
America, in accordance with the wise custom of the civil magistrate since the first settlements in this land and with the rule established from the foundation of this Government, do appoint Thursday, November 24, 1910, as a day of National Thanksgiving and Prayer, enjoining the people upon that day to meet in their churches for the praise of Almighty God and to return heartfelt thanks to Him for all His goodness and loving-kindness...
 
17.On October 23, 1913, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed a Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer.
He wrote:“The season is at hand in which it has been our long respected custom as a people to turn in praise and thanksgiving to Almighty God for His manifold mercies and blessings to us as a nation.
 
18.Now, Therefore, I, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate Thursday the twenty-seventh of November as a day of thanksgiving and prayer, and invite the people throughout the land to cease from their wonted occupations and in their several homes and places of worship render thanks to Almighty God.
 
19.And President Roosevelt's 1942 Thanksgiving proclamation opened with a quote from Psalms 92:1:
It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto Thy name, O Most High ...
 
20.  April 19, 1970, President Nixon spoke at Kawaiahao Church, the oldest Christian Church in Hawaii:
"When we learned of the safe return of our astronauts, I asked that the Nation observe a National Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving today...
 
21.The Congress of the United States in 1977 ratified Public Las 77-379, in which the President officially proclaims the fourth Thursday of every November: “A National Day of Thanksgiving” 

22.State of Illinois June 24, 1993, in a proclamation signed by Governor George Ryan and Secretary of State Jim Edgar proclaimed November 21-27, 1993 as Christian Heritage Week in Illinois. Among many things, thanksgiving was offered for “…the religious heritage of our state and nation…” 

P.S. The information in this tidbit originates with historian William Federer  
 
QuoteBit
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