'Signal and Manifest Mercies'
Giving thanks to God for America’s blessings has a long pedigree, from observances in Jamestown, Virginia and Plymouth, Massachusetts in the 17th Century, and at the dawn of our new nation.
On Sept. 25, 1789, the day after the House of Representatives passed the Bill of Rights, Elias Boudinot, president of the Congress from 1782 to 1783, raised a motion to request that President George Washington “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.”
The measure passed both Houses of Congress with a […]

