Learn that the idea of gratitude and giving thanks is an ancient concept for mankind and is expressly elevated in the Bible.

Review how days of thanksgiving were originally commemorated in the English colonies in Virginia and Massachusetts, with the English dissenters, the Pilgrims, having the most influential celebrations.

In the colonial era, Thanksgiving celebrations were centered on specific events and circumstances and accordingly occurred at different times.

As Americans united against British tyranny, they made continental-wide proclamations through the Continental Congress, but again, they were tied to specific events and times.President George Washington issued the first two Thanksgiving Proclamations under the Constitution.

Sarah Josepha Hale’s drive to create a uniform, nationwide celebration was embraced by Lincoln and his successors, and it became firmly fixed to the Fourth Thursday of November under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Feasts, running, football, parades, Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday all flow from this powerful day of gratitude.

Highlights include the Bible, Thessalonians 5:16-18, Colossians 2:7, Psalm 100:4, Colossians 4:2, Psalm 92, Philippians 4:6, King Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth Anne Boleyn, Church of England, John Calvin, Puritans, Common Book of Prayers, King James I, Pilgrims, Mayflower, Plymouth England, Plymouth Harbor Massachusetts, Mayflower Compact, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Samoset, Squanto, Wampanoag, William Bedford, Thanksgiving commemoration, Melanie Kirkpatrick, Thanksgiving The Holiday at the Heart of the American Experience, William Bradford, Berkeley Plantation a/k/a Berkeley Hundred, The Margaret, John Woodlief, Jamestown, the Starving Time, Chief Opechancanough, Massacre of 1622, Massachusetts Bay Colony, New Amsterdam, First Continental Congress, Second Continental Congress, Day of Humiliation Fasting and Prayer (1776), Henry Laurens, Thanksgiving Day Proclamation (1777), Battle of Saratoga, Thomas McKean, Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer (December 18, 1781), George Washington, James Madison, Elias Boudinot, Aedanus Burke, Thomas Tudor Tucker, Federalist Party, Anti-Federalists, Peter Silvester, Roger Sherman, Articles of Confederation, Continental Association, Constitution, William Samuel Johnson, Ralph Izard, Washington Thanksgiving Day Proclamation (October 3, 1789 for November 26, 1789), Whiskey Rebellion, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Letter, James Madison, First Amendment, War of 1812, Abraham Lincoln, Sarah Josepha Hale, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Northwood: A Tale of New England, Vassar College, domestic science, Ladies’ Magazine, Godey’s Lady’s Book, Civil War, William Seward, Andrew Johnson, Lincoln Thanksgiving Proclamation (October 3, 1863 and October 24, 1864), President Franklin Delano Roosevelt a/k/a FDR, National Retail Dry Goods Association, Franksgiving, Allen Treadway, Earl Michener, FDR Thanksgiving Speech (1938), President Lyndon Baines Johnson, Johnson Thanksgiving Speech (1963), President John F. Kennedy, President Ronald Reagan, Reagan Thanksgiving Speech (October 19, 1984 and 1986), President Barak Obama, Obama Thanksgiving Speech (2009), President George W. Bush, President Bush Thanksgiving Day visit to the troops in Iraq, President Donald Trump, Trump Thanksgiving Day visit to troops in Afghanistan, Trump Speech to troops on Thanksgiving, President Bill Clinton, Clinton Pardoning of Turkey Speech (1997), Presidential Pardons of Turkey, Thanksgiving Dinner & Feast, Thanksgiving parades, Grumbles, Macy’s, Hudson’s, Turkey Trot, National Football League (NFL) Thanksgiving Games, Detroit Lions, Dallas Cowboys, Walter Camp, Collegiate Football Thanksgiving Games, George A. Richards, The Chicago Bears, Saturday Night Live (SNL), Black Friday, Giving Tuesday, Henry Timms, Cyber Monday, and many others.

To learn more about America & Patriot Week, visit www.PatriotWeek.org.

Learn why understanding the Declaration of Independence is important especially in these tumultuous times when patriotism is at an all time low.

Discover why the Second Continental Congress decided to have a Declaration of Independence and how a committee of five of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston were chosen to draft it.

Explore why John Adams insisted that Thomas Jefferson draft it, and how the Committee and the Second Continental Congress changed Jefferson's draft.

Hear the entire Declaration of Independence, the most profound words written in the English language that were approved by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776.

Most Americans have never read the entire Declaration of Independence and have a elementary grade level understanding of it. Most remember the soaring words of the second paragraph (“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among the are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”), and maybe the last clause (“we mutually pledge our to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor”), and have not reviewed in any detail the remainder of the 1320 words. The rest is not just taxation without representation. There were 27 grievances listed by the Founding Fathers, of which taxation without representation is but one.

In addition to the amazing, stirring words we are familiar with, and with the exceptions of John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin, nearly no one knows the entire roster of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

The full roster of the signers is John Adams, Samuel Adams, Josiah Bartlett, Carter Braxton, Charles Carroll of Carrolton, Samuel Chase, Abraham Clark, George Clymer, William Ellery, William Floyd, Benjamin Franklin, Elbridge Gerry, Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, John Hancock, Benjamin Harrison, John Hart, Joseph Hewes, Thomas Hayward, Jr., William Hooper, Stephen Hopkins, Francis Hopkinson, Samuel Huntington, Thomas Jefferson, Francis Lightfoot Lee, Richard Henry Lee, Francis Laws, Philip Livingston, Thomas Lynch, Jr., Thomas McKean, Arthur Middleton, Lewis Morris, Robert Morris, John Morton, Thomas Nelson, Jr. , William Paca, Robert Treat Paine, John Penn, George Read, Caesar Rodney, George Ross, Dr. Benjamin Rush, Edward Rutledge, Roger Sherman, James Smith, Richard Stockton, Thomas Stone, George Taylor, Matthew Thorton, George Walton, William Whipple, William Williams, James Wilson, John Witherspoon, Oliver Wolcott, and George Wythe.

Listen at your leisure to the amazing Declaration of Independence. Read the entire Declaration of Independence here: https://patriotweek.org/2021/07/24/the-declaration-of-independence-september-11/

To learn more about the Declaration of Independence & Patriot Week, visit www.PatriotWeek.org. Our resources include videos, a TV series, blogs, lesson plans, and more.

Check out Judge Michael Warren’s book America's Survival Guide, How to Stop America's Impending Suicide by Reclaiming Our First Principles and History at www.AmericasSurvivalGuide.com, amazon, or other major on-line retailers.

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Commemorate Juneteenth and reflect on its origins, history, meaning, and traditions.

Learn about the prevalence and acceptance of slavery in world history (such as in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Athens, Rome, Britain, England, and Europe) and its development in the colonies and the United States. Examine the cruel and barbaric slave trade and Middle Passage across the ocean from first hand accounts.

Explore how some Founding Fathers such as Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Alexander Hamilton opposed slavery, and George Washington emancipated his slaves. Learn how Thomas Jefferson trembled for the future of the country because of slavery, and how he banned slavery in the Northwest Territory and signed the law banning the slave trade in America.

Learn how the opposition to slavery led to sharp divisions in the country, eventually exploding into the Civil War.

Review how President Abraham Lincoln shifted his original position and supported the emancipation of the slaves as a wartime measure, and implemented emancipation through the first and final Emancipation Proclamations. Learn how the final Emancipation Proclamation only freed those enslaved by the Confederate States of America.

Learn how many enslaved first learned of the Emancipation Proclamation for the first time on June 19, 1865 by virtue of Union General Gordan Granger General's Order No. 3 issued in Galveston, Texas after the Union army occupies the city, but only after the 25th Army Corps — primarily composed of African American Union troops — liberate Galveston.

Review how slavery was finally abolished through the ratification of the 13th Amendment and treaties with Native American tribes (who held slaves) such as the Cherokee, Creek, and Chickasaw.

Explore how June 19 becomes a new celebration - called Jubilee Day, Emancipation Day, and finally Juneteenth - and the celebration spread across the nation, and was finally recognized as a federal holiday in the wake of the George Floyd killing in 2021.

Listen to several Juneteenth Presidential Proclamations by Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden.

Focus on how commercialism is starting to creep into the Juneteenth celebrations.

Highlights include Christina Snyder’s book Slavery in Indian Country, The Changing Face of Captivity in Early America, Olaudah Equiano (Gustavus Vassa), the Great Awakening, chattel slavery, Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, Eli Whitney & the cotton gin, Missouri Compromise, Bleeding Kansas, Lincoln Douglas debates, "A House Divided" Abraham Lincoln speech, presidential election of 1860, Declaration of Independence, abolitionists, Fort Sumter, Civil War, Grand Army of the Republic, Horace Greeley, Gideon Wells, William Seward, Antietam, Gettysburg Address, Lincoln First Inaurual Address, Lincoln Second Inaugural Address, Richard Hofstadlter's American Political Tradition, bill of lading, General Robert E. Lee, Appotomattox Court House, CSS Shenandoah, Union General Gordan Granger General Order No. 3, and much more.

To learn more about America & Patriot Week, visit www.PatriotWeek.org. Our resources include videos, a TV series, blogs, lesson plans, and more.

Check out Judge Michael Warren’s book America's Survival Guide, How to Stop America's Impending Suicide by Reclaiming Our First Principles and History at amazon, or other major on-line retailers.

Join us!