1865 Massachusetts Gov. Proclamation for Fasting and Prayer over Civil War

This is a March 1865 broadsheet of a proclamation for a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer issued by Governor John Andrew of Massachusetts. It fits within a long tradition of proclamations for fasting and prayer by leading American political figures but was also shaped by the context of the ongoing, and nearly concluded, American Civil War (1861 - 1865).

A Closer Look

This proclamation, issued near the end of the war, set aside April 13 as a special day to reflect on the conflict and hopes for its rapid conclusion. Incidentally, April 13 turned out to come just days after the surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Courthouse. The broadsheet focuses on the present conflict, the sacrifices it entailed, and the guiding hand of Providence in determining the course of the conflict. As discussed below, Andrew was a committed abolitionist and a powerful advocate for enlisting black soldiers in the Union Army. His religious beliefs and moral commitments are clear in his framing of the day of fasting and prayer.

Gubernatorial Proclamations

Gov. Andrew was not the first to issue such a proclamation, which were a regular feature in the early American Republic. For instance, in the wake of the Boston Tea Party and the British Parliament's 'Intolerable Acts,' the Virginia House of Burgesses proclaimed a 'Day of Fasting, Humiliation, and Prayer.' Governors of Massachusetts John Hancock and Increase Sumner issued such proclamations in the years following the Revolutionary War, which apparently influenced Andrew's own 1862 proclamation, issued at a low point for the Union during the Civil War.

However, the immediate impetus for this proclamation appears to have been a similar one issued by President Lincoln the previous July (1864). By this point, the Union had turned the tide in the war and was clearly heading towards victory, but at a terrible cost. It is worth mentioning that Andrew issued another proclamation just three months after the present one, following the assassination of Lincoln.

Publication History and Census

This broadsheet was issued on March 1, 1865, by Governor John Andrew and distributed throughout Massachusetts. It can easily be confused with the similarly titled proclamation by Andrew following Lincoln's assassination, as well as his 1862 proclamation along the same lines. The intermingling of these three documents, as well as digital and physical examples thereof, in catalog listings makes an accurate census difficult, but this broadsheet looks to be held by five institutions and has no known history on the market.