THE
MAYFLOWER COMPACT
In the name of God,
Amen. We whose names are under-written, the loyal subjects of our dread
sovereign Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and
Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, etc.
Having undertaken, for
the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith,
and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the
northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually, in the
presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine our selves together
into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and
furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute,
and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and
offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for
the general good of the Colony, unto which we promise all due submission and
obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape
Cod, the eleventh of November [New Style, November 21], in the year of the
reign of our sovereign lord, King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the
eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Dom. 1620.
In modern spelling, William Bradford wrote and had published this excerpt in London in 1621:
"They began now to gather in the small harvest they had, and to fit up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health and strength and had all things in good plenty. For as some were thus employed in affairs abroad, others were exercised in fishing, about cod and bass and other fish, of which they took good store, of which every family had their portion. All the summer there was no want; and now began to come in store of fowl, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees). And besides waterfowl there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides venison, etc. Besides, they had about a peck of meal a week to a person, or now since harvest, Indian corn to that proportion. Which made many afterwards write so largely of their plenty here to their friends in England, which were not feigned but true reports."
After that of the initial colonizations, there came a period where there were two religious America's growing up together, one that was Fundamentalist Protestant Christianity, and one that was a divisive Episcopalian (neo-Catholic) variant that was embracing Deists and unbelievers alike. In the 1630-1647 Journals of William Bradford, we read this excerpt:
"The one side [the Reformers] laboured to have ye
right worship of God & discipline of Christ established in ye church,
according to ye simplicitie of ye gospell, without the mixture of mens
inventions, and to have & to be ruled by ye laws of Gods word,
dispensed in those offices, & by those officers of Pastors, Teachers,
& Elders, &c. according to ye Scripturs. The other partie [the
Church of England], though under many colours & pretences, endevored to
have ye episcopall dignitie (affter ye popish maner) with their large power
& jurisdiction still retained; with all those courts, cannons,
& ceremonies, togeather with all such livings, revenues, &
subordinate officers, with other such means as formerly upheld their
antichristian greatnes, and enabled them with lordly & tyranous power
to persecute ye poore servants of God."
When we began the Revolutionary War in 1776, we had a leadership that was clearly Christian Fundamentalist. By 1781, there was an ascendancy of those who generalized their oaths after the manner of Deist Masonics, and those not wanting to exclude Jews (by whose financial help, the Confederacy in it worst financial hours of the now drawn out War of Independence survived). -- Brianroy
Thanksgiving Proclamation 1777
by the Continental Congress:
the first national Thanksgiving proclamation
IN CONGRESS
November 1, 1777
FORASMUCH as it
is the indispensable Duty of all Men to adore the superintending Providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with Gratitude
their Obligation to him for Benefits
received, and to implore such farther Blessings as they stand in Need of: And
it having pleased him in his abundant Mercy, not only to continue to us the
innumerable Bounties of his common Providence; but also to smile upon us in the
Prosecution of a just and necessary War, for the Defense and Establishment of
our unalienable Rights and Liberties; particularly in that he hath been
pleased, in so great a Measure, to prosper the Means used for the Support of
our Troops, and to crown our Arms with most signal success:
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; and that, together with their sincere Acknowledgments
and Offerings, they may join the penitent Confession of their manifold Sins,
whereby they had forfeited every Favor; and their humble and earnest
Supplication that it may please GOD through the Merits of JESUS CHRIST, mercifully to forgive
and blot them out of Remembrance; That it may please him graciously to afford
his Blessing on the Governments of these States respectively, and prosper the
public Council of the whole: To inspire our Commanders, both by Land and Sea,
and all under them, with that Wisdom and Fortitude which may render them fit Instruments,
under the Providence of Almighty GOD,
to secure for these United States, the greatest of all human Blessings,
INDEPENDENCE and PEACE: That it may please him, to prosper the Trade and
Manufactures of the People, and the Labor of the Husbandman, that our Land may
yield its Increase: To take Schools and Seminaries of Education, so necessary
for cultivating the Principles of true Liberty, Virtue and Piety, under his
nurturing Hand; and to prosper the Means of Religion,
for the promotion and enlargement of that Kingdom, which consisteth
"in Righteousness, Peace and Joy in the
Holy Ghost."
And it is further recommended, That servile Labor, and
such Recreation, as, though at other Times innocent, may be unbecoming the
Purpose of this Appointment, be omitted on so solemn an Occasion.
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Proclamation Thanksgiving Day - 1795
George
Washington - 01/01/1795
This
is the text of a proclamation for a day of Public Thanksgiving and Prayer,
issued by George Washington when he served as President. It was published in the Columbian Centinel on
January 1, 1795.
Published
BY
AUTHORITY,
A
PROCLAMATION:
By
the PRESIDENT of the UNITED
STATES
OF AMERICA.
When we review the calamities, which afflict so many
other nations, the present condition of the United States affords much matter
of consolation and satisfaction. Our exemption hitherto from foreign war – an
increasing prospect of the continuance of that exemption – the great degree of
internal tranquility we have enjoyed – the recent confirmation of that
tranquility by the suppression of an insurrection which so wantonly threatened
it – the happy course of public affairs in general – the unexampled prosperity
of all classes of our citizens; are circumstances which peculiarly mark our
situation with indications of the Divine beneficence towards us. In such a
state of things it is, in an especial manner, our duty as people, with devout
reverence and affectionate gratitude, to acknowledge
our many and great obligations to Almighty
God and
to implore Him to continue and confirm the blessings we experience.
Deeply penetrated with this sentiment, I, George
Washington, President of the United States, do recommend to all religious
societies and denominations, and to all persons whomsoever, within the United
States, to set apart and observe Thursday, the nineteenth day of February next,
as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer: and on that day to meet together
and render their sincere and hearty
thanks to the
great Ruler of nations for the manifold and signal mercies
which distinguish our lot as a nation. particularly for the possession of
constitutions of government which unite and, by their union, establish liberty
with order; for the preservation of peace, foreign and domestic; and for the
seasonable control, which has been given to a spirit of disorder, in the
suppression of the late insurrection; and generally for the prosperous course
of our affairs, public and private; and, at the same time, humbly and fervently
to beseech the kind Author of these blessings. graciously to prolong them to us
– to imprint on our hearts a deep and solemn sense of our obligations to Him
for them – to teach us rightly to estimate their immense value – to preserve us
from the arrogance of prosperity and from hazarding the advantages we enjoy by
delusive pursuits – to dispose us to merit the continuance of His favors by not
abusing them, by our gratitude for them, and by a correspondent conduct as
citizens and as men – to render this country, more and more, a propitious
asylum for the unfortunate of other countries – to extend among us true and
useful knowledge – to diffuse and establish habits of sobriety, order,
morality, and piety – and, finally, to impart all blessings we possess or ask
for ourselves, to the whole family of mankind.
In testimony whereof, I have caused the seal of the
United States of America, to be affixed to these presents, and signed the same
with my hand. Done, at the city of Philadelphia, the first day of January,
1795, and of the independence of the United States of America, the nineteenth.
Go
Washington,
President
of the United States
EDMUND RANDOLPH, Secretary of State
President Abraham Lincoln's Proclamation of
Thanksgiving
Issued, October 3, 1863
The year that is drawing towards its close has been
filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these
bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the
source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so
extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the
heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty
God.
In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and
severity, which has sometimes seemed to invite and provoke the aggressions of
foreign States, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been
maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed
everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict; while that theater has
been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.
The needful diversions of wealth and strength from the
fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the
plough, the shuttle or the ship. The axe has enlarged the borders of our
settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals,
have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily
increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege
and the battlefield; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented
strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large
increase of freedom.
No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand
worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High
God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless
remembered mercy.
It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be
solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by
the whole American people; I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens in every
part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are
sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of
November next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer to our beneficent Father, who
dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that, while offering up the
ascriptions justly due to him that, for such singular deliverances and
blessings; they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness
and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows,
orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are
unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty
hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be
consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony,
tranquility, and union.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and
caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington this third day of
October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three,
and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.
Abraham Lincoln
By the President: William H. Seward, Secretary of
State.
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Radio Thankgiving Special with Bing Crosby, 1952 (what many heard 60 Years ago).
Radio Thankgiving Special with Bing Crosby, 1952 (what many heard 60 Years ago).
This thanksgiving, let us recognize that the
right to share and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ within and without the
offices of our Government on every level, is a fundamental historical
right. It belongs to no other belief system. It is ours by heritage
and Constitutional Right. Let us give thanks to GOD the Father Almighty
for his Son, Jesus Christ, and that by the Holy Spirit He might counsel - guide
- direct us toward righteousness and acts of piety privately and toward one
another, individually, as groups, and as a nation. May we all repent of
our sins, leave them at the Cross under the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, and
proclaim our individual, collective, and national trust into He who sits on the
Right Hand of GOD the Father Almighty, and from thence will one day come back
to judge the living and the dead as King of Kings and Lord of lords of all the
Earth by Divine Right. May we be delivered from those that would seek to
be His enemies both within and without our nation, and may we give thanks for
the preservation and bounty He has yet preserved us, through His grace, mercy,
and loving-kindness, having generosity and such great patience toward us
without regard or respect to persons.
Thank you Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost. Have mercy upon us, a nation of great sinners and
wickedness. Help us turn to you, and deliver us from evil rulers, and
grant us favor in Thy sight. Thank you for the preservation of thy
saints, and for the preservation of thy people Israel, and please protect them
and keep them safe, even as we would wish to be kept safe and protected ourselves.
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done. As in Heaven, so in Earth, on this
Day of Thanksgiving we give special thank to Thee, O GOD, and may it also be
always as well. Amen. -- Brianroy
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