George Washington and the First Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was declared a National Holiday in 1789 by George Washington in the first year of his presidency in recognition of the pilgrims of Plymouth colony first successful harvest feast of 1621.

“Rendering thanks and expressing gratitude for favors or mercies. Every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if received with thanksgiving 1 Timothy 4:3.”

The First Thanksgiving Feast was documented by William Bradford’s journal titled Of Plymouth Plantation and by Edward Winslow titled Mourt’s Relations; only 53 colonists survived the long journey on the Mayflower and the first winter in the New World. Disease and starvation struck down half of the original 102 colonists. With the help of the local Wampanoag tribe, they had a hearty supply of food to sustain them through the next winter.

From our very beginnings Thanksgiving has remained a public celebration of divine goodness; it is a day set apart for friends and family to come together to acknowledge the goodness of God in the dispensation of his bounties to the citizens of the United States of America.