‹ George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation, 1789 •
Each Thanksgiving, the Wall Street Journal publishes two editorials. The first, The Desolate Wilderness, is an account of the travel of the Pilgrims from England, via Leyden in the Netherlands, to America in their search for a place to establish their “City from God” apart from the (from their perspective) corruption and oppression of their place of birth.
The second, And the Fair Land, celebrates the great fortune that has come to their successors, and to those who followed them to this new land, for which all of us should give thanks.
Another Thanksgiving Proclamation, the first for the new United States, was made by the Continental Congress in 1777 to celebrate the military success that ended what was for the Americans the darkest year of the Revolutionary War and turned the direction of history in their favor. Here is another perspective about that event. As an aside, the Congress’ failure to recognize the military talent of Benedict Arnold and his contribution to the success at Saratoga caused Arnold to switch sides. Instead, as the article relates, Congress rewarded the incompetent, but politically popular and well-connected, Horatio (”Grandma,” as he was called by his detractors) Gates. Gates continued to be a problem for Washington. For example, he appears to have been connected to the Newburgh, N.Y., plotting against Congress by unpaid Continental Army officers at the end of the Revolutionary War.
“The facts of life are conservative.” - Margaret Thatcher
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