Vol. 30, No. 10 -- November 2010
CHRIST LUTHERAN CHURCH OF THE DEAF
9545 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910
CHRIST LUTHERAN CHURCH OF THE DEAF
9545 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910
Thanksgiving
Proclamations
Part X
Part X
Our American tradition of annually celebrating a National Day of Thanksgiving began in 1863 with President Abraham Lincoln. As I read his proclamations and those of subsequent Presidents, I am convinced that those proclamations were written by the President's staff. Take a look the first Thanksgiving proclamation issued by Lincoln's successor, Andrew Johnson:
1865 Thanksgiving Day Proclamation
By The President of the United States Of America --
Whereas it has pleased Almighty God during the year which is now coming to an end to relieve our beloved country from the fearful scourge of civil war and to permit us to secure the blessings of peace, unity, and harmony, with a great enlargement of civil liberty [for former slaves]; and
Whereas our Heavenly Father has also during the year graciously averted from us the calamities of foreign war, pestilence, and famine, while our granaries are full of the fruits of an abundant season; and
Whereas righteousness exalteth a nation, while sin is a reproach to any people [Proverbs 14.34]:
Now, therefore, be it known that I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, do hereby recommend to the people thereof that they do set apart and observe the first Thursday of December next as a day of national thanksgiving to the Creator of the Universe for these great deliverances and blessings.
And I do further recommend that on that occasion the whole people make confession of our national sins against His infinite goodness, and with one heart and one mind implore the divine guidance in the ways of national virtue and holiness.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed...[on] this 28th day of October, A.D. 1865...
~~ Andrew Johnson
By The President of the United States Of America --
Whereas it has pleased Almighty God during the year which is now coming to an end to relieve our beloved country from the fearful scourge of civil war and to permit us to secure the blessings of peace, unity, and harmony, with a great enlargement of civil liberty [for former slaves]; and
Whereas our Heavenly Father has also during the year graciously averted from us the calamities of foreign war, pestilence, and famine, while our granaries are full of the fruits of an abundant season; and
Whereas righteousness exalteth a nation, while sin is a reproach to any people [Proverbs 14.34]:
Now, therefore, be it known that I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, do hereby recommend to the people thereof that they do set apart and observe the first Thursday of December next as a day of national thanksgiving to the Creator of the Universe for these great deliverances and blessings.
And I do further recommend that on that occasion the whole people make confession of our national sins against His infinite goodness, and with one heart and one mind implore the divine guidance in the ways of national virtue and holiness.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed...[on] this 28th day of October, A.D. 1865...
~~ Andrew Johnson
This wonderful proclamation doesn't fit
well with what we know about Andrew Johnson.
He had been a pro-slavery Democrat Senator from Tennessee, but when the
Civil War started, Johnson defected to the North, not because he had a change
of heart regarding slavery, but he simply wanted the United States to stay
united. In the 1864 election, the Republican
Party renamed itself "the National Unity Party," and it nominated
Johnson as Lincoln's Vice President. A
few months later, Lincoln was assassinated and Johnson became President. Johnson's Reconstruction policies for the
war-torn South showed little concern for the emancipated slaves. During the rest of his term, President
Johnson was constantly at odds with Congress' Republican advocates of civil
rights for former slaves. Andrew Johnson is the only US President to have had
an impeachment trial in the Senate. He
was acquitted by only one vote.
So who really wrote Andrew Johnson's first
Thanksgiving Day Proclamation? I suspect
William Seward, who served as Secretary of State for both Lincoln and
Johnson. This proclamation looks much
like those which Lincoln issued. When
Lincoln cited "our national sins," he was referring to the sin of
slavery. Lincoln often said that he saw
the Civil War as God's punishment against America for having tolerated slavery. Andrew Johnson's later Thanksgiving Day Proclamations all lacked the humility and spiritual character that we see in this, his first one. His later proclamations focused on industry, railroads, and continental expansion. It is obvious that those proclamations were written by a different hand.
So, whoever wrote this one, thank you, and may we take it to heart.
~~Pastor Ron