 President George Washington
Was he violating the Constitution when he
proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving to God?
Remember, he was one of the 55
framers of the Constitution. Most of the other framers of the
Constitution were still alive. If he was violating the First
Amendment, he would have stirred up a hornet's nest of opposition.
This Presidential Proclamation was made just 2 years after the
Constitution was signed.
"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 tranquillity,
union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and
rational manner in which we have been enabled 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 trangressions; 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." -- Proclamation: A National Thanksgiving, 3 Oct. 1789
When George Washington retired from command of the Continental
Army, he sent a letter to the governors of the 13 States. In his
closing paragraph, he wrote:
I now make it my earnest prayer, that God would have you, and the
State over which you preside, in his holy protection, that he would
incline the hearts of the Citizens to cultivate a spirit of
subordination and obedience to Government, to entertain a brotherly
affection and love for one another, for their fellow Citizens of the
United States at large, and particularly for their brethren who have
served in the Field, and finally, that he would most graciously be
pleased to dispose us all, to do Justice, to love mercy, and to
demean ourselves with that Charity, humility and pacific temper of
mind, which were the Characteristicks of the Divine Author of our
blessed Religion, and without an humble imitation of whose example
in these things, we can never hope to be a happy Nation.
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