Signed Manuscript Document

This extraordinary document establishing a unique American celebration is one of only two signed originals, the other being in the Library of Congress.

Our first president calls on all Americans to give thanks for “the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness... for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge….”

And he asks us to pray “to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations … 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 shewn 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 encrease 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…”

This incredible founding document follows the request of Congress, passed in a resolution on the same day they finalized the Bill of Rights and then adjourned, capping off the most productive legislative session in the history of the world.

Interwoven in the Thanksgiving Proclamation is a clear statement of purpose for the new republic: the main goal of this government will be to enhance the ability of its citizens to practice their faith and live their lives as they choose.

With humor, we can highlight how revolutionary that promise truly was by contrasting it to a favorite song in the musical HAMILTON. King George III pleasantly sings, “Oceans rise. Empires fall. We have seen each other through it all, And when push Comes to shove, I will send a fully armed battalion To remind you of my love.” A couple stanzas later, he adds, “I will kill your friends and families to remind you of my love.”

Can you think of a better way to summarize the attitude of most rulers over thousands of years of human history, regrettably continuing in large parts of the world today, that government existed for the sake of the rulers? In America, we will be citizens, not disposable subjects.

The Thanksgiving Proclamation is also a deeply religious, though not denominational, document. It thus ties directly to the sentiments Washington expressed in many letters to religious groups within the United States, including the synagogue in Rhode Island to which he promised that under his direction, the government of the United States would give “to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.”

★ George Washington Manuscript Document Signed, October 3, 1789. #23201