Downloadable, ready-to-print 8½- by 11-inch files of the text of George Washington’s 1789 Thanksgiving proclamation, optimized for at-home printing and perfect for reading or display
———
Several files are available for instant download:
FOR QUICK AND SIMPLE DOWNLOAD AND PRINTING
Two PDFs ready to download and optimized for at-home printing:
• In color with simplified borders, for printing on home color laser and inkjet printers on plain letter-size paper
• In black and white with simplified borders, for printing on home black-and-white laser printers on plain letter-size paper
FOR ADVANCED PRINTING AT HOME OR IN A PROFESSIONAL PRINT SHOP
A .zip folder containing these files in color in these formats:
• With a bleed (PDF and JPEG)
• With a ⅛-inch bleed area (PDF and JPEG)
• With a ⅛-inch bleed area and trim marks (PDF)
The main body text is in 10-point type.
———
THE BACKSTORY
By late 1789, stability had come to the new nation of 13 former British colonies hugging the east coast of North America. Its new Constitution had been ratified a year earlier, and the country’s first Congress and president under that Constitution were charting a course for the growing republic. The future of the United States looked to be filled with peace and prosperity.
As the first year of the administration of that first president, George Washington, drew to a close, he invited his countrymen to join with him in giving thanks for “the many signal favors of mighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”
“It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God,” the president wrote, “to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor.” Though the proclamation was issued well before Thanksgiving was an annual holiday in the United States, the purposes and meaning of the holiday laid out in this document still hold true today:
“That we may then all unite in rendering unto [God] our sincere and humble thanks, for his kind care and protection of the People of this country previous to their becoming a Nation, for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interposition of his providence, which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war, for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed, for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.”
The text of that first Thanksgiving proclamation is beautifully typeset in readable, modern type in this print. This print is perfect for display at home or in a classroom, office, or other public space.
