The observance of a day of fasting and prayer was brought to all of the colonists by the Continental Congress in 1775. Congress issued a proclamation recommending "a day of publick humiliation, fasting, and prayer" be observed by the "English Colonies" on Thursday, July 20, 1775, "and to bless our rightful sovereign, King George the Third..." The text, written by John Witherspoon and John Hancock, instructed the colonists to pray for a resumption of "the just rights and privileges of the Colonies" in "civil and religious" matters. A proclamation to this end was sent to every town in the colonies. John Adams wrote that the popular response was gratifying, that the special day was more widely observed than the practice of going to church on Sunday. After this success, Congress determined to call for a day of fasting and prayer each spring, and a day of thanksgiving and praise each fall.