An American Thanksgiving

By Andrew Myers - Posted at Log College Press:

Thanksgiving has long been a national American tradition, dating back to the first Protestant thanksgiving in America at Fort Caroline, Florida as observed by the French Huguenots on June 30, 1564, upon their arrival after a cross-Atlantic journey, and more especially, as observed by the Pilgrims at Plimoth Colony, Massachusetts in the autumn of 1621, after a difficult first winter and a promising first harvest.

In William Adam’s 1873 volume titled Thanksgiving: Memories of the Day, Helps to the Habit, the author speaks not only of the nostalgia for the past, but shows us the Biblical and historical basis for setting apart times of thanksgiving for the particular mercies of God. It is good to take note when God answers prayer, or when blessings are bestowed, and not to let such mercies go without giving God the glory.

In memory of the day, be sure to look over William Carlos Martyn’s The Pilgrim Fathers of New England: A History (1867).

Since we last wrote about the American Presbyterian tradition of Thanksgiving sermons a year ago, many more have been added to our inventory. Here is a sample of what we have: ...

Read more here.