Christmas History (Part 2)

Throughout the history of America from the colonial period in the 1600's until present, Christmas hasn't always been celebrated in our country. There have been a number of reasons for that. When you read about Puritan Massachusetts, Christmas was outlawed for a period of time. From 1659-81 Christmas was outlawed in Boston. Christmas as we know it today wasn't celebrated in the same fashion back in early colonial America like it is today. The seventeenth century Puritans were vehemently opposed to the celebration of Christmas. Also, on December 25, 1789, the first Christmas under the new constitution, Congress was in session. Christmas wasn't declared a national holiday until 1870. There were some states in the South during the time of the Civil War that declared Christmas a state holiday such as Arkansas, for example,but it wasn't a national holiday until June 26, 1870. We will take a look into the colonial background of America and determine why Christmas wasn't celebrated in Massachusetts, for example.

In the early 17th century a wave of religious reform changed the way Christmas was celebrated in Europe. Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan forces took over England in 1645. They vowed to rid England of decadence, and as a part of their effort, cancelled Christmas. By popular demand, Charles II was restored to the thrown and in essence the holiday was reinstituted. The Pilgrims, English Separatists that came to America in 1620, were even more orthodox in their Puritan beliefs than Oliver Cromwell. As a result, Christmas was not a holiday in early America. From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was actually outlawed in Boston. Anyone celebrating Christmas was fined five shillings. Christmas was celebrated in Jamestown, Virginia, but that wasn't a Puritan stronghold. Following the American Revolution,English customs fell out of favor, including Christmas. Congress was in session on December 25, 1789, the first Christmas under the new constitution. Christmas wasn't declared a national holiday until June 26, 1870.

There were a number of reasons why the early Puritans during the majority of the seventeenth century in America were opposed to Christmas. One reason was that nobody knew when Jesus was born and they didn't believe Jesus was born on December 25. They said if we were supposed to celebrate the birth of Christ, God would've instructed Christians to do so from the Bible. Instead, it taught Christians to celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Another reason for the Puritans' dislike of Christmas was because Christmas wasn't a family holiday during those days like we know it today. Back then celebrating Christmas was a time of excessiving "partying". It was a time when drunkeness, revellings, fornication, and gluttony took place from December 25 up until the New Years. I read in a book about Christmas in early North America and it said the "Twelve Days of Christmas was about the twelve days of sinning." I'm somewhat paraphrasing it but you understand the point. It was a time after the harvest was finished when food and wine became accessible and many citizens took advantage of the time to engage in drunkeness and gluttony. That's one of the reasons why the Puritans were so vehemently opposed to celebrating Christmas.

Christmas was re-invented in America during the early nineteenth century. A wave of Dutch and German immigrants brought with them many Christmas customs such as Santa Claus or "Sinter Klaas". Americans started embracing Christmas in the early nineteenth century. They re-invented it from a raucous carnival holiday into a family-centered day of peace and nostalgia. During the early part of the nineteenth century there was a period of class conflict and turmoil. Unemployment was high and rioting was taking place from disenchanted classes. In 1828, the New York city council instituted the city's first police in response to a Christmas riot. As a result, the upper classes decided to change how Christmas was celebrated.

In 1819, best-selling author Washington Irving wrote, "The sketchbook of GeoffreyCrayon, gent.," a series of stories about the celebration of Christmas in an English manor house. The sketches feature a squire who invited the peasants into his his home for the holiday. In contrast to the problems faced in American society, the two groups mingled effortlessly. In Irving's mind, Christmas should be a peaceful, warm-hearted holiday bringing groups together across lines of social wealth or status. Irving's fictitious celebrants enjoyed ancient customs," including the crowning of a Lord of Misrule. Irving's book wasn't based on any holiday celebration he had attended. Many historians say that Irving's account actually "invented" tradition by implying that describes the two customs of the season.

Santa Claus was introduced into America in the 18th century but it was in the nineteenth century due to the poem that Clement Moore wrote that helped make Santa a part of America's holiday custom. He wrote a poem entitled, "A Visit from St. Nicholas" or "Twas the Night Before Christmas" that depicted Santa as a portly, round figure with a corn-cob pipe in his mouth who comes on his sleigh bringing all kinds of toys to good children and he comes and visits their home while they're alseep in bed. Political cartoonist Thomas Nast further developed that in the 1860's in his cartoon on the Harper's Weekly that gave us the modern-day image of Santa. Santa through the years would be used in many retail stores as part of their advertisement in luring shoppers for the holiday season. Santa would also be making appearances at the malls in the 20th century in which children had the opportunity to see Santa and give him their Christmas wish requests. Many men also would dress up as Santa ringing the bells for the Salvation Army to solicit donations. That's all part of the Santa tradition that has evolved in this country for the last two centuries.

2009 is drawing to a close. Tomorrow is the last day of the year. This will be my last post about the Christmas holiday and its many traditions for this year. Next Christmas season I will continue writing posts about the Christmas traditions throughout America and the world. I will also continue further exploring other aspects of Christmas history and how it became such an integral part of our culture! I hope all the bloggers and blog readers have a Happy New Year!