When one thinks about Americans sitting down on November 23 with loved ones and turkey to give thanks for our country and its blessings, what effect will the headwinds of our times have?
Think about our country’s situation: (1) according to October, 2023 poll results, just 3 out of 10 U.S voters think that our country is headed in the right direction, and a September, 2023 poll in which barely 50% of all U.S. adults on average trust in U.S. institutions -- better than I expected!; (2) large majorities of Americans are concerned about the economy, rising prices of food, along with increases in the costs of energy and gas; (3) attacks on the rule of law, law enforcement (e.g., the F.B.I.), members of our military (e.g., delayed promotions), and our Constitution and democracy itself; (4) the attacks on the 2020 election results and aftermath of the January 6 insurrection, including a spate of decided and pending court cases; (5) our decades-long bipartisan failure to produce a practical or compassionate immigration plan; (6) political turmoil including virulent extremism on the left and right; (7) remarkable and apparently growing division in our country; and (8) the funding of the war in Ukraine.
As unsettling as this nasty brew may be, many of us will still sit down on Thanksgiving Day, (a holiday that is a close second only to Christmas in popularity) to thank God for the blessings we and America have and continue to receive. Our country’s democracy has survived wars, catastrophic attacks, armed insurrection, a civil war, racially- motivated church bombings, assassinations, and more.
From the very beginning in 1789 to 2022, American Presidents have issued Thanksgiving Proclamations thanking God in one way or another for America’s survival in the face of all of the horrors above and more. The proclamations discussed below suggest that celebrating thanksgiving for our country is far from dead. In fact, they have much to teach us about ourselves and the history of Thanksgiving.
Washington’s 1789 Proclamation
On October 7, 1789, President Washington issued “A Proclamation” designating Thursday, November 26th as a day of public Thanksgiving acknowledging the favor of Almighty God “by affording [Americans] an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.” (“A Proclamation.” Gazette of the United-States (New York, NY), October 7, 1989.)
He was, of course, referring to our Constitution and new government which began operating in 1789.
Washington’s 1795 Proclamation
From 1791-1794, whiskey taxes imposed by the federal government led to an armed insurrection in Western Pennsylvania. Following death and injury, property damage, and an assault on the new Republic’s power to tax, President Washington raised a federal army and the insurrection collapsed as federal troops marched into Western Pennsylvania. As many as 2000 rebels allegedly involved in the insurrection fled into the western mountains. Some 24 of the rebels were indicted for high treason—10 were tried, two were convicted and sentenced to death by hanging and were later pardoned by Washington.
On January 1, 1795, Washington’s Proclamation noted in pertinent part that: (1) compared to other nations, “the present condition of the United States affords much matter of consolation and satisfaction.”; (2) “the great degree of internal tranquility we have enjoyed, [and] the recent confirmation of that tranquility by the suppression of [the Whiskey Rebellion] which so wantonly threatened it.”; and (3) Americans observe Thursday the 19th of February next as a day of public worship and on that day render thanks to “The Great Ruler of Nations” among other things “to render this country more and more a safe and propitious asylum for the unfortunate of other countries,” i.e., a system of immigration.
By his Thanksgiving Proclamation, Washington was urging citizens to give thanks for the internal tranquility which resulted by reason of the suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion—an event with some striking similarities to the January 6th Capitol Insurrection.
Lincoln’s Proclamation of October 3, 1863
The Civil War Battle of Gettysburg ended on July 3, 1863, with the horrendous toll of over 50,000 American casualties over three days. In proclaiming a day of Thanksgiving for the last Thursday on November (Lincoln issued nine such proclamations during the Civil War), Lincoln returned to two of his favorite themes: empathy for those hurt by a civil war of “unequalled magnitude and severity” and peace and unity inviting his fellow citizens to (1) “commend to [God’s] tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged”; and (2) “and fervently implore the interposition of [God] to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as consistent with [God’s] purposes of the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.”
This proclamation is viewed as the beginning of the national holiday of Thanksgiving Day.
