Congressional Resolutions We'll Never Hear Again

For as much 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 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 proper 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 unfit 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 husbandmen, 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 to the purpose of this appointment, be omitted on so solemn an occasion.

-First Thanksgiving proclamation given by Congress, November 1st, 1777