National Day of Prayer in United States

                 ©iStockphoto.com/ Robert Kohlhuber

What do people do?Through
the efforts of the National Day of Prayer Task Force, more than 35,000
prayer gatherings will be conducted by about 40,000 volunteers across
the United States. Several million people are expected to participate in
this call to prayer. Some celebrities, such as popular musician and
Grammy Award winner Ricky Skaggs, will join millions of Americans in
praying for the nation.

Public life  National Day of
Prayer is not a public holiday. Schools, post offices, stores and other
businesses and organizations are open as usual. Public transport
services run to their usual schedules and no extra congestion on
highways is to be expected.

Background  In 1775 the
Continental Congress allocated a time for prayer in forming a new
nation. Over the years, there have been calls for a day of prayer,
including from President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. On April 17, 1952,
President Harry Truman signed a bill proclaiming the National Day of
Prayer into law in the United States. President Reagan amended the law
in 1988, designating the first Thursday of May each year as the National
Day of Prayer.  The National Prayer Committee was formed in the
United States in 1972. It went on to create the National Day of Prayer
Task Force, with the intended purpose of coordinating events for the
National Day of Prayer.  According to the Legal Information
Institute, the President shall issue each year a proclamation
designating the first Thursday in May as a National Day of Prayer on
which the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and
meditation at churches, in groups, and as individuals.

Under
the pretext of forcing payment for Mexico's outstanding and crippling
debt, Britain, Spain and France sent troops to Mexico. The
democratically elected government of President Benito Juarez made
agreements with the British and the Spanish, who promptly recalled their
armies, but the French stayed.
Emperor Napoleon III wanted to
secure French dominance in the former Spanish colony, including
installing one of his relatives, Archduke Maximilian of Austria, as
ruler of Mexico. Although Abraham Lincoln roundly condemned Napoleon's
imperialist ambitions in a neighboring country, he was unable to assist
Mexico as the United States was embroiled in the American Civil War at
the time.
Confident of a quick victory, 6,500 French soldiers
marched on Mexico City to seize the capital before the Mexicans could
muster a viable defense. Along their march, the French already
encountered stiff resistance before Zaragoza struck out to intercept the
invaders.
The battle between the French and Mexican armies
occurred on May 5 when Zaragoza's ill-equipped militia of 4,500 men
encountered the better armed French force.
However, Zaragoza's
small and nimble cavalry units were able to prevent French dragoons from
taking the field and overwhelming the Mexican infantry. The dragoons
removed from the main attack, the Mexicans routed the remaining French
soldiers with a combination of their tenacity, inhospitable terrain, and
a stampede of cattle set off by local peasants. The invasion was
stopped and crushed.
Unfortunately, Zaragoza won the battle but
lost the war. The French Emperor, upon learning of the failed invasion,
immediately dispatched another force, this time numbering 30,000
soldiers. By 1864, they succeeded in defeating the Mexican army and
occupying Mexico City. Archduke Maximillian became Emperor of Mexico.
Maximilian's
rule was short-lived. Mexican rebels opposed to his rule resisted,
seeking the aid of the United States. Once the American Civil War was
over, the U.S. military began supplying Mexicans with weapons and
ammunition, and by 1867, the rebels finally defeated the French and
deposed their puppet Emperor. The Mexican people then reelected Ju›rez
as president.
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