Monday, November 24, 2008
Thanksgiving: Bradford
On November 29, 1623, two years after the first Thanksgiving, Governor William Bradford made an official proclamation regarding the last Thursday in November:
In as much as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest…and has made the forests abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as He as protected us from the ravages of the savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience…I do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims…render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings.
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