PRESIDENTIAL THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATIONS
Read through several Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamations at pilgrimhall.org/ThanxProc.htm.
Then answer the following questions:
1. To whom do all Presidents give thanks for the blessings we have in America?
2. What is unusual about the way Presidents in the 20th and 21st centuries record the date at the bottom of their proclamations?
3. In what way has the tone of the Thanksgiving proclamations changed over the past 200 years?
Resources
Read about the first Thanksgiving at the website apuritansmind.com.
Read “The Pilgrims in Holland” (published by the Foundation for Economic Education) at thefreemanonline.org/columns/the-pilgrims-in-holland.
Read the original Mayflower Compact at pilgrimhall.org/compact.htm.
Read about the Mayflower at mayflowerhistory.com/History/MayflowerShip.php.
Consider reading “Of Plymouth Plantation,” written by William Bradford, the long time Governor of the Plymouth colony. Read a brief excerpt at fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1650bradford.html.
OR: see and download a copy from this site: gutenberg.org/etext/24950)
Read all Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamations at pilgrimhall.org/ThanxProc.htm.
Click here for a Thanksgiving quiz
Learn about Thanksgiving at the White House. (This page has not been updated under President Obama’s administration. Recent administrations have traditionally made their Thanksgiving Proclamations available the week before Thanksgiving and posted it on a White House Thanksgiving page. We will post a link when it is made available.)
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