The earliest documented Thanksgiving in America was in Plymouth Colony under Gov. William Bradford when a crop-saving rain ended a severe drought. He wrote on July 30, 1623 that God, “through His blessing, caused a fruitful and liberal harvest, to their no small comfort and rejoicing. For which mercy, in time convenient, they also set apart a day of thanksgiving.”
During the Revolution, having thwarted Benedict Arnold’s plot, the Continental Congress proclaimed October 18, 1780: “a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, that all the people may assemble on that day to celebrate the praises of our Divine Benefactor; to confess our unworthiness of the least of his favours, and to offer our fervent supplications to the God of all grace…to cause the knowledge of Christianity to spread over all the earth.”
When the war was won, Massachusetts Gov. John Hancock proclaimed December 11, 1783: “a Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer, that all the People may then assemble to celebrate...that he hath been pleased to continue to us the Light of the Blessed Gospel...to cause pure Religion and Virtue to flourish...and to fill the World with his glory.”
America’s new President, George Washington, proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving on October 3, 1789: “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 transgressions…to promote the knowledge and practice of the true religion and virtue.”
Later, President Abraham Lincoln established the first annual day of Thanksgiving for the last Thursday of November 1863: “It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people.”
Thankfulness exists because God exists. Such an expression could never evolve by chance from non-living matter. Granted, there are many who refuse to give God thanks, even though he continues to lavish blessings upon them. God will eventually settle all accounts. Meanwhile, giving thanks is an immanently biblical concept. “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving” (1 Timothy 4:4, ESV). When we sit down to a feast this Thanksgiving (or any day), let’s remember the source of all blessings. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17).
[Note: For the above, and hundreds more historic quotations, I recommend William J. Federer’s outstanding book, America’s God and Country, Encyclopedia of Quotations.]