The early Americans were acutely aware that all they had was given to them by the hand of God. Whether they were in times of good and plenty or suffering through hardships, drought or war - they gave thanks to God for all that He provided and for all that He was.
America's history is deeply rooted in faith in God. Many today are threatened by that faith. They want to rewrite history and downplay God as just one of many things that some people seem to take comfort in believing. After all they think there are many roads to salvation and their goodness will surely get them admitted to Heaven. God's Word says otherwise and He is neither a liar nor a deceiver.
Listen to some voices from our past:
Samuel Adams, father of the American Revolution:
"It is therefore recommended ... to set apart Thursday the eighteenth day of December next, for solemn thanksgiving and praise, that with one heart and one voice the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts and consecrate themselves to the service of their divine benefactor ..."—November 1, 1777 (adopted by the 13 states as the first official Thanksgiving Proclamation)
Virginia Governor Thomas Jefferson, in 1779:
"[I] appoint … a day of public Thanksgiving to Almighty God … to [ask] Him that He would … pour out His Holy Spirit on all ministers of the Gospel; that He would … spread the light of Christian knowledge through the remotest corners of the earth … and that He would establish these United States upon the basis of religion and virtue."
President George Washington’s first federal Thanksgiving proclamation in 1789:
"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.… Now, therefore, I do appoint Thursday, the 26th day of November 1789 … that we may all unite to render unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection."
President Abraham Lincoln, making Thanksgiving an annual national holiday in 1863, in the midst of the Civil War:
"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."
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