Hanson, John, 1715-1783 [Thanksgiving proclamation]
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC06420.01 Author/Creator: Hanson, John, 1715-1783 Place Written: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Type: Manuscript document signed Date: 19 March 1781 Pagination: 2 p. : Height: 32 cm, Width: 20.3 cm Order a Copy
Signed by Hanson as President of Continental Congress and countersigned by Charles Thomson as Secretary to Congress. Proclamation from Congress calls "upon the several states, to set apart the last Thursday in April next, as a day of fasting, humiliation and prayer." There is a slight paper loss to the edge of the document.
Although the document bears the year 1781, Hanson did not serve as president of Congress until November of that year. The circular letter that originally accompanied the proclamation (John Hanson to the States, 20 March 1782, Letters of Delegates to Congress, memory.loc.gov) and the Journals of the Continental Congress (JCC , 22:137-38, memory.loc.gov) both make it clear that this document was issued in 1782. Hanson apparently sent the proclamation to the heads of each state and to George Washington. The "33-a" at the top of the document (with a pencil line through it) signifies that it was likely deaccessioned from a collection.
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