A Yankee Doodle Thanksgiving

Origins of the Thanksgiving Celebration

Although the origins of Thanksgiving in America date back before the 18th century, it was His Excellency, President George Washington, who issued the first U.S. proclamation calling on all Americans to give thanks to God on a specific date. Americans generally believe that Thanksgiving first took place at Plymouth Colony in 1621. The Puritan settlers of Plymouth, also known as Pilgrims, held the feast after their first successful harvest as a way to thank God for their blessings. Nearby Native Americans were invited to join in the feast. However, this did not become an annual event. Instead, the colonies held days of thanksgiving at different times of the year and without a fixed theme.

Plymouth Thanksgiving

By the time of the American Revolution, days of fasting and thanksgiving became political events. Most Americans saw liberty as a gift from God. Days of fasting or thanksgiving declared by the states promoted unity and strengthened commitment to the Glorious Cause. During the American War for Independence, state assemblies set aside days of prayer to honor specific military victories. 

In 1777, the impressive victory over the British at Saratoga, New York, was a turning point. Instead of state legislatures celebrating it locally, the Continental Congress proposed establishing a national day to honor that decisive victory. Commander-in-Chief George Washington agreed and declared December 18, 1777, as the first national Thanksgiving Day. The Continental Congress supported similar proclamations until 1784.

British surrender at Saratoga spurred a
December 1777 Thanksgiving proclamation

Boudinot's Resolution

On September 25, 1789, New Jersey's Elias Boudinot, a dedicated Presbyterian, made a motion in the United States House of Representatives for a resolution that stated: “That a joint committee of both Houses be directed to wait upon the President of the United States, to request that he would recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a Constitution of government for their safety and happiness.” 

The purpose this time was to thank the Almighty for the new constitution and the new form of government—created with as much sweat and tears as independence itself. The founders and members of the new government made no distinction between the blessings of independence and the new republic and God's grace. To them, the former stemmed from the latter. This is a reminder we should keep in mind each Thanksgiving.

Elias Boudinot

President Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation

New York, 3 October 1789

By the President of the United States of America. a Proclamation.

Washington issued the nation's first
Proclamation of Thanksgiving

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor—and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”

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—for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed—for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted—for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

And also 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 enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually—to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed—to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord—To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us—and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New-York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

Go: Washington

First Patriots... First Veterans

Issues regarding veterans and their fair treatment pre-date the founding of our nation. The colonists fought a series of wars against the natives and the French in the run-up to the break with Britain. The English colonies in North America provided pensions for disabled veterans. The first law in the colonies on pensions, enacted in 1636 by Plymouth, provided money to those disabled in the colony’s defense against Indians. Other colonies eventually followed Plymouth’s example.

Revolutionary War

But the American Revolution brought treatment of veterans to the forefront of the earliest politics in America. In 1776 the Continental Congress tried to encourage enlistments and reduce
desertions by passing the nation’s first pension law. It granted half pay for life in cases of loss of limb or other serious disability. But because the Continental Congress did not have the authority or the money to make pension payments, the actual payments were left to the individual states. This obligation was carried out in varying degrees by different states. At most, only 3,000 Revolutionary War veterans ever drew any pension. Later, grants of public land were made to those who served to the end of the war.

Continental Army Soldiers

A Veterans Rebellion?

But again the money was not appropriated and many veterans or their families sold off what pension rights they had for pennies on the dollar. The political fall out of all this was tremendous. The boiling point came with Shays' Rebellion in 1786 when western Massachusetts farmers, mostly veterans of the War for Independence, could not get credit for their farming despite the government reneging on their wartime and veterans' compensation. Shays himself, was a captain who served at Lexington & Concord, was a wounded veteran.

Shays' Rebellion: A Veterans' rebellion?

A New Government

Ironically, Shays' rebellion showed the need (among other things) for a stronger central government, which led to the Continental Congress and the US Constitution adopted and ratified in 1789, with the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. The first United States Congress assumed the burden of paying veterans benefits. The first federal pension legislation was passed in 1789. It continued the pension law passed by the Continental Congress. The Secretary of War administered pensions in the early years of the republic. Yet fair payment and treatment for veterans continued to impact America's political landscape. Those who answered the colors had to fight to maintain their rights even as they sacrificed for others to retain theirs.

Constitutional Convention

A Second "War for Independence"

The War of 1812 brought the plight of Revolutionary War pensioners back into the public eye. Veterans of that conflict were provided a reasonable pension, including widows and orphans. As the economy began to thrive Congress looked to new ways to support veterans, especially the remaining Revolutionary War veterans.  A new principle for veterans benefits, providing pensions based on need, was introduced in the 1818 Service Pension Law. The law provided that every person who had served in the War for Independence and needed assistance would receive a fixed pension for life. The rate was $20 a month for officers and $8 a month for enlisted men. Before this legislation, pensions were granted only to disabled veterans.  The result of the new law was an immediate increase in pensioners. From 1816 to 1820, the number of pensioners increased from 2,200 to 17,730, and the cost of pensions rose from $120,000 to $1.4 million.

The War of 1812 brought more veterans to consider

Congress Takes Action

When Congress authorized the establishment of the Bureau of Pensions in 1833, it was
the first administrative unit dedicated solely to the assistance of veterans. Under the 1832 Act that established the Bureau,   Revolutionary War pensions, which until then were given only to regular Army veterans—the Continentals—or disabled veterans, were authorized for all who had served at least six months in any of the military forces during the war. For the most part, this meant those who had served in the various state militias, though it also included naval personnel, state line troops, and certain contract civilians such as teamsters. The depositions taken to substantiate the required service are a remarkable record in themselves, providing eyewitness accounts of the Revolution drawn from them reveals. The depositions, however, are more than a collection of personal accounts of service—as fascinating as these can be. They are rich with data concerning Revolutionary War veterans and their families and a unique record of the life and time of this generation.

Certification that one John Bacon
 was eligible to receive a pension
for Revolutionary War service.

 Veterans enrich our History

It is no small final irony also that our knowledge of the American Revolution is filled out by the accounts of the wartime experiences of the Revolutionary War soldiers. Because records of that war were sparse and fragmented, it was incumbent on veterans or their families to justify pension applications. These accounts, although often spotty or sometimes spurious, provided a unique insight into the conflict as seen by those who fought it. In a sense, the veterans helped portray the war they fought to posterity. And for that, as well as their service, we should thank them.

Honor All Those Who Served - especially our First Patriots

Honor Our Veterans