When the War of Independence drew to a close, the Continental Congress became the Congress of the United States of America. On May 1, 1789, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to elect Reverend William Linn, a Dutch Reformed minister, as its chaplain. In addition, the Congress appropriated $500.00 from the federal treasury to pay his salary. The Right Reverend Bishop Samuel Provost was elected to be the chaplain of the Senate and was also paid from the federal treasury. Both the House and the Senate continue today to open each session with prayer. So much for the inviolate "wall of Separation of church and state" that anti-Christian organizations like the ACLU claim.

Indeed, on September 25, 1789, Congress unanimously approved a resolution asking President George Washington to proclaim a National Day of Thanksgiving:

Day of Thanksgiving. Resolved. That a joint committee of both Houses be directed to wait upon the President of the United States to request that he recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a constitution of government for their safety and happiness.