Over the more than two decades that your editor has been at the helm of this 116-year-old Inner Southeast Portland newspaper, when no more urgent need for an editorial presented itself for November, and especially after a major November election which had proven divisive, THE BEE has turned to presenting one of Abraham Lincoln's great ideas in this space. The Civil War was still raging, dividing and potentially destroying the country — and President Lincoln was brooding over the need to clearly explain the purpose of the war, which he would soon do at the battlefields of Gettysburg — in his remarkable, and very brief, Gettysburg Address. But in October of 1963, that was still in the future. He chose to call for a day of Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday in the following month — November — and issued this in the form of a proclamation. It was only intended to be a single event taking place in 1863, but it almost instantly struck a spark in the public imagination, and it has been celebrated on that day every year since — first only in the Union, and later across the entire country.
Here is that proclamation once again, in the hope that the fourth Thursday this November will convey more meaning to us all than simply being the annual day on which we all sit down and have a really big dinner with family and friends . . .
Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation
October 3, 1863 By the President of the United States A Proclamation:
The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.
In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and provoke their aggressions, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict; while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.
Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.
No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.
It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a Day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United Stated States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.
Abraham Lincoln
You count on us to stay informed and we depend on you to fund our efforts. Quality local journalism takes time and money. Please support us to protect the future of community journalism.
Have a thought or opinion on the news of the day? Get on your soapbox and share your opinions with the world. Send us a Letter to the Editor!
Portland Tribune
Beaverton Valley Times
Tigard Tualatin Times
Lake Oswego Review
West Linn Tidings
Wilsonville Spokesman
Hillsboro Tribune
Forest Grove News Times
Newberg Graphic
Clackamas Review
Oregon City News
The Outlook
Sandy Post
Estacada News
Canby Herald
Woodburn Independent
Molalla Pioneer
Columbia County Spotlight
Regal Courier
Sherwood Gazette
The Bee
Southwest Community Connection
Madras Pioneer
Central Oregonian
Submit an Obituary
Columns
Public Notices
Oregon Property Foreclosures
Business Calendar
Business Leads
News Links
Plan Center
Marketing
Columns
Public Notices
Oregon Property Foreclosures
Business Calendar
Business Leads
News Links
Plan Center
Marketing
Printing and Distribution Services
Public Notices
Digital Marketing Solutions
Submit an Obituary
Columns
Public Notices
Oregon Property Foreclosures
Business Calendar
Business Leads
News Links
Plan Center
Marketing
Columns
Public Notices
Oregon Property Foreclosures
Business Calendar
Business Leads
News Links
Plan Center
Marketing
Printing and Distribution Services
Public Notices
Digital Marketing Solutions
Weekly Ads
This Week’s Circulars
Find your Next Vehicle
Special Sections
Insiders
News Tips
Letters to the Editor
Births | Anniversaries | Weddings | Engagements | Business | Birthday | Obituaries
Community Calendar
Weekly Ads
This Week’s Circulars
Find your Next Vehicle
Special Sections
Insiders
News Tips
Letters to the Editor
Births | Anniversaries | Weddings | Engagements | Business | Birthday | Obituaries
Community Calendar
Click Here
Advertise with Us
Current Job Openings
© 2022 Pamplin Media Group | All rights reserved | 6605 SE Lake Rd, Portland, OR 97222 | 503-684-0360 | Privacy Policy | Refund Policy