by by Ambassador Callista L. Gingrich and Speaker Newt Gingrich
Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks to God for our many blessings and reflect upon this cherished American tradition.
The holiday has a long history and dates back more than 400 years – when a group of courageous pilgrims sailed across the Atlantic Ocean on the Mayflower and arrived at Plymouth to begin a new life.
In November 1621, after surviving a difficult first year, the pilgrims and the Wampanoag people gathered for a harvest celebration to thank God for their good fortune – an event that would later come to be known as America’s “first Thanksgiving.”
In 1789, President George Washington continued this tradition by issuing the First Thanksgiving Proclamation after America won its independence from Great Britain:
“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, which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war.”
Nearly 250 years after Washington issued this proclamation, God’s “kind care,” “protection,” “manifold mercies,” and “favorable interpositions of His providence” are as pronounced and abundant as they were in 1789.
As Americans gather with loved ones to celebrate Thanksgiving, we give thanks to “the great and glorious Being” who has guided and protected our nation since the dawn of our independence.
This Thanksgiving, let us thank God for our nation’s exceptional past and place in Him our hope for a prosperous future.
We wish you a happy Thanksgiving!
