Long before the President of the United States pardoned a turkey to celebrate Thanksgiving, the President of Congress issued proclamations encouraging its celebration.
We at the National Archives have written a lot about the history of Thanksgiving as a federal holiday, often focusing on Thanksgiving proclamations under the U.S. Constitution or the aforementioned Presidential turkey pardons.
However, during the pre-federal period, the nascent country also celebrated Thanksgiving nationally. In fact, several times before the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, the Continental Congress designated days of thanksgiving. The proclamations were recommendations to the state governments, and Congress usually suspended business on the days designated as Thanksgiving.
The first proclamation happened in the midst of the Revolutionary War, when the Continental Congress declared a day of Thanksgiving for December 18, 1777. It read:
“It is therefore recommended to the legislative or executive powers of these UNITED STATES, to set apart THURSDAY, the eighteenth Day of December next, for SOLEMN THANKSGIVING and PRAISE: That at one time and with one voice, the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts, and consecrate themselves to the Service of their DIVINE BENEFACTOR.…”
The 1779 proclamation designated the first Thursday in May “to be a Day of Fasting, Humiliation, and Prayer to Almighty God, that he will be pleased to avert those impending Calamities which we have but too well deserved: That he will grant us his Grace to repent of our Sins, and … continue that wonderful Protection which hath led us through the Paths of Danger and Distress….”
The document also reflects the early years of the tradition of referring to the year of independence in the signature block.
“Done in CONGRESS, this Twentieth Day of March, in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy-Nine, and in the Third Year of our Independence.”
Congress continued the traditions, calling for Thanksgiving celebrations even after the war ended in 1783 and the Treaty of Paris was signed. Congress’s 1784 proclamation focused on the end of the war:
“Whereas it hath pleased the Supreme Ruler of the universe, of his infinite goodness and mercy, so to calm the minds and do away the resentments of the powers lately engaged in a most bloody and destructive war, and to dispose their hearts towards amity and friendship, that a general pacification hath taken place, and particularly a Definitive Treaty of peace between the said United States of America and his Britannic Majesty … we, the United States of America, in the Committee of the States assembled, do earnestly recommend to the supreme executives of the several states, to set apart Tuesday, the 19th day of October next, as a day of public prayer and thanksgiving.…”
That was the last thanksgiving proclamation before the Constitution was ratified in 1788. And, shortly after the federal government convened in 1789, the newly elected President George Washington issued the first Thanksgiving Day proclamation under the Constitution, offering thanks for achieving independence and establishing the constitutional government.
Want to know more about the pre-federal period? Come visit the Road to Revolution exhibit in the National Archives Building. The series features National Archives records that tell the story from colonial resistance to American independence and the diverse experiences of the nation’s founding generation.
