11/27/2023

Last week’s curation at RealClear’s American Civics portal features two pieces centered on the important themes of gratitude and giving thanks in light of our national celebration of Thanksgiving.

First, at RealClearPolicy, Jack Miller, the founder and chairman of the Jack Miller Center, argues that we should see the Thanksgiving holiday “as an opportunity to quit complaining about all the things that are wrong in our country and the world” and instead focus on “all the things we should be thankful for.” Above all, he contends that Americans should be grateful to live “in a country that is blessed with ‘liberty and justice for all.’” And we can be thankful that our nation, which was “founded on principles of human dignity and universal freedom,” has progressed much “toward achieving the promise in our Declaration of Independence that all people ‘are created equal’” and possess equal rights. We can safeguard this American promise for future generations, Miller writes, by teaching our children about America’s story. They need to know about “the first Thanksgiving and the miracle of the American Revolution,” and they need to be introduced to great “Americans like Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.” As Miller concludes, we should have “great gratitude” for what our country has already achieved and what we will achieve “with a better understanding of our shared principles, along with a little hard work.”

At RealClearPolitics, Jack Miller Center senior fellow Paul Carrese focuses on George Washington’s famed 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation. He says that we owe a debt of gratitude to Washington, the indispensable father of the country, “who elevated America by calling for obedience to divine truths about justice, peace, forgiveness, and equal liberty for all.” Calling for a “day of public thanksgiving and prayer,” Washington noted that “It is the duty of all Nations 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.” Washington called all Americans to acknowledge “with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity to peaceably establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”