George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation and the Nature of American Government

American Thinker ^ | 11/29/2023 | E. Jeffrey Ludwig

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In October 1789, President George Washington issued a thanksgiving proclamation “to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor….”  This proclamation was thus not merely self-congratulation whereby the President and others applauded themselves for creating a new government provided by our Constitution. At that point we were transitioning from the Articles of Confederation which had neither three distinct branches of government nor the idea of federalism embodied in its organization.  Would the new Constitution work?  Would the misgivings of some leaders prove to be legitimate?  

In answer to these questions the proclamation expressed its reliance on the providence of Almighty God, not on a self-conscious self-confidence of those who created the Constitution.  Despite the learning and brilliance of many of the Constitution’s promoters (think particularly of the vision and skills of James Madison, the key figure in its writing), Washington determined to put the success of the venture in the hands of Almighty God.  He understood that true thankfulness and radical humility go hand in hand.

But Washington did not stop there. In an almost ecstatic frame of mind, he goes on to speak of God as a “great and glorious Being” and “Author of all that is good.” Are these really phrases to induce a type of radical self-hypnosis? Are these words that, as the Marxists might claim, simply manipulative phrases to hypnotize the people into accepting exploitation by a powerful class? Were these phrases stunning verbal drugs that were and are “the opiate of the people”?

He then goes on not to congratulate those who created or promoted this Constitution, but to admit the sinfulness of the men who have presented it and voted it into existence.

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Washington inserts a plea that our transgressions be pardoned, acknowledging thereby that there must be errors in the document which come from the limitations and biases of those involved with creating it and offering it to the several states.

Lastly, he emphasizes the fourfold goal of our Constitution. It will

(1) promote knowledge, (2) promote “true religion and virtue,” (3) increase science, and (4) “enhance… temporal prosperity.”

Thus, the goal was not to promote Christianity per se, but that virtue under a Christian umbrella of beliefs of a variety of sects and denominations would promote the progress in science and prosperity that the Constitutional Convention wanted to expand under the new rules of governance.