BONUS - The 1789 Thanksgiving Day Proclamation by President George Washington

0:01 Because understanding great literature is better than trying to read and understand

0:05 yet another business book on the Leadership Lessons from the Great Books

0:09 Podcast, we commit to reading, dissecting, and analyzing the great

0:12 books of the Western canon. You know, those

0:16 books from Jane Austen to Shakespeare and everything else in

0:19 between that you might have fallen asleep trying to read in high

0:23 school. We do this for our listeners, the owner, the

0:26 entrepreneur, the manager, or the civic leader who doesn't have the time

0:30 to read, dissect, analyze, and leverage insights from

0:34 literature to execute leadership best practices in the

0:38 confusing and chaotic postmodern world we all now

0:41 inhabit. Welcome to the rescuing of Western

0:44 Civilization at the intersection of literature

0:48 and leadership. Welcome to the Leadership Lessons from

0:52 the Great Books Podcast from the Fred W.

0:55 Smith National Library for the Study of George

0:59 Washington and Mount Vernon Thanksgiving

1:03 by T.K. Byron, Ph.D., Assistant

1:07 Professor of History, Dalton. State College

1:11 Quote since the settlement of. The colonies, Americans were

1:15 familiar with setting. Aside days of thanksgiving, prayer, and

1:19 fasting. In response to significant events.

1:22 In 1789, President George Washington issued a

1:26 proclamation designating November 26th of that year as a national

1:29 day of Thanksgiving to recognize the role of Providence in creating

1:33 the new United States and the new federal Constitution.

1:38 Later, President Abraham Lincoln took steps towards designating it a

1:42 permanent federal holiday. Americans

1:46 traditionally recognize the first Thanksgiving as having taken place at

1:49 Plymouth Colony in the autumn of 1621.

1:53 The separatist Puritan settlers of Plymouth, known as Pilgrims,

1:57 held a feast after their first harvest as a way of thanking God for their

2:00 blessings. Invited to their observance were members of the neighboring

2:04 Wampanoag tribe, among whom such a harvest celebration was also

2:08 neither unfamiliar nor uncommon.

2:12 The 1621 Thanksgiving celebration, however, did not become an annual event.

2:16 Rather, residents of Plymouth and the other colonies held days

2:20 of thanksgiving and fasting over the years at different times of the year

2:24 and for a variety of reasons.

2:28 During the American Revolution, the practice continued. Colonial

2:31 legislatures set aside days of prayer to recognize military victories against

2:35 the British Army. After British General John Burgoyne

2:39 surrendered to the Americans at Saratoga, New York, in

2:42 October 1777, the Continental Congress suggested that a national

2:46 day be set aside to recognize the victory. Commander

2:50 of the Continental Army, General George Washington agreed, proclaiming

2:53 December 18, 1777, as the first national

2:57 Thanksgiving Day. The Continental Congress supported similar

3:00 Thanksgiving proclamations through 1784.

3:06 In 1789, Representative Elias

3:09 Boudinot from New Jersey presented a resolution requesting that

3:13 Congress persuade the now President of Washington to

3:16 declare Thanksgiving observance in honor of the creation of the new United States

3:20 Constitution. Congress agreed and passed the

3:24 resolution creating a joint committee to make their request to the

3:27 President, Washington issued a proclamation on October

3:31 3, 1789, designating Thursday, November 26,

3:35 as a national day of thanks. In

3:39 his proclamation, Washington declared that the necessity for such a day

3:42 sprung from the Almighty's care of Americans prior to the Revolution,

3:47 assistance to them in achieving independence, and help in

3:50 establishing the constitutional government. Not ignoring the

3:54 authority of state governments, Washington distributed his proclamation to the

3:57 governors, requesting that they announce and observe the day within

4:01 their states. Newspapers throughout the country

4:04 subsequently published the proclamation, and public celebrations

4:08 were held. Washington himself marked the day by attending

4:12 services at St. Paul's Chapel in New York City and by donating

4:16 beer and food to imprisoned debtors in the city.

4:20 The 1789 Thanksgiving proclamation, however, did not

4:24 establish a permanent federal holiday. Washington

4:27 issued another proclamation in February 1795 to recognize the

4:31 defeat of a taxation rebellion in Pennsylvania. Later

4:35 presidents, including John Adams and James Madison,

4:39 declared days of thanksgiving, but it. Was not until the Civil war

4:43 of. The 1860s that President Lincoln

4:47 initiated a regular observance of thanksgiving in the

4:50 United states. From the Mount

4:54 Vernon Educational Resources

4:57 Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789

5:02 by the President of the United States of America. A. Proclamation

5:07 Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of

5:10 Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for

5:14 his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and faith

5:18 favor and whereas both houses of Congress have by their joint committee

5:21 requested me to recommend to the people of the United States

5:25 a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with

5:29 grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God,

5:32 especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a

5:36 form of government for their safety and happiness. Now

5:40 therefore do I recommend and Assign Thursday, the

5:43 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of

5:47 these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the

5:50 beneficent author of all the good that was, that

5:54 is, or that will be, that we may then all unite in.

5:58 Rendering unto him our sincere and humble. Thanks for his kind care and

6:01 protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation for

6:05 the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions

6:09 of His Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late

6:13 war, for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty

6:17 which we have since enjoyed for the peaceable and rational manner in

6:20 which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our

6:24 safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now

6:28 lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with

6:32 which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring

6:35 and diffusing useful knowledge, and in. General

6:39 for all the great and various. Favors which he hath been pleased to confer

6:43 upon us and also that we may then

6:46 unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to

6:50 the great Lord and Ruler of nations, and beseech him to pardon

6:54 our national and other transgressions to enable us all,

6:58 whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative

7:01 duties properly and punctually to render our national

7:05 government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being

7:09 a government of wise, just, and constitutional laws,

7:13 discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed to protect and guide all

7:17 sovereigns and nations, especially such as have shown

7:20 kindness unto us, and to bless them with good government,

7:24 peace and concord, to promote the knowledge and practice of

7:28 true religion and virtue, and the increase of science

7:32 among them and us and generally to grant unto all

7:35 mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he

7:39 alone knows to be best

7:43 given under my hand at the City of New York, the third day of

7:47 October in the year of our Lord

7:50 1789.

7:54 President George Washington

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