In the time before the Roman Empire endorsed Christianity, the church looked for ways to celebrate major religious events. The Romans themselves were already celebrating an ancient festival of the pagan god Saturn, called Saturnalia, around December 17th, which consisted of wild drinking and feasting and even the giving of small gifts. This usually lasted several days and led to another celebration. The Winter Solstice. This is the day which has the shortest daylight and longest night. Just another way the feasting and partying could last a little longer. The church just adopted the pagan holidays and made them Christian.
As Rome fell and the Middle Ages began, the world of royals with outlandish choices in clothing, funny hats and terrible morals, where ordinary citizens had only the rights the king granted them, also affected the new world. Religion was split between the Roman Catholic church, and the Protestant Church which believed the strict teaching of the scripture was the only way to live. Some of these were called “Puritans.”
In 1630, a group of these Puritans landed on the shores of North America. This was the beginning of a migration of somewhere between 15,000-20,000 English that moved to New England by 1640.
Their goal was to create a new society based on their religious beliefs, without the rules and oversight of the Church of England, which they believed was still too closely aligned with Catholicism. As the ships came on a regular schedule, they brought news, supplies, and the current teaching of the Protestant Church back in England which forbade holidays that they saw as non-biblical. A major holiday on the list was Christmas, which the English Parliament made illegal in 1647.
In 1659, the Puritan leaders convinced one colony, the Massachusetts Bay Colony, to also make it illegal. They enacted a law called “Penalty for Keeping Christmas.” The law condemned the holiday as “festivals as superstitiously kept in other countries” and a “great dishonor of God and offence of others.” They announced that anyone who was found celebrating Christmas by failing to work, feasting, or in any other way, would pay a fine of five shillings for each offense. Five shillings was about what most tradesmen would earn in three days.
To understand a little of the mindset of the people who had come to this new world, try this. Imagine that you and about 120 other passengers, had spent two months at sea on a ship that was only 100 feet long and 25 feet wide. By the time you made it to your new home, you were weak from travel, probably dehydrated, and anxious about your future.
In the beginning, all hands worked to build shelter and a fort for protection from natives that you knew nothing about. After working all day, you had to go back on the ship so you could sleep in safety. When the shelters were finished, the ship left, and you and your companions were on your own.
The first years involved planting crops, hunting, and carving a new home out of the wilderness, while burying your dead along the way. Less than half of the passengers on those early ships would live to see the settlement complete. The harsh winter, disease and starvation claimed young and old alike and were it not for the natives being friendly and generously sharing their food and teaching you how to live in this land, the settlement would have failed completely.
Now a couple of decades after your settlement was established, this shipload of Puritans arrives, bringing with them the current English laws prohibiting the celebration of Christmas. They say that you cannot drink alcohol, spend time feasting and socializing, or take time off from work.
You may not realize it, but you are the first white Americans, and you will act like your descendants will a couple of centuries later. Americans do not like being told what to do and they will fight for the freedom to do as they wish.
There were many who were fined five shillings. Not because they demanded to celebrate Christmas, but because they were told that they couldn’t.
The Puritans had their way for 22 years. In 1681 the ban was lifted, even though it continued for many years in other countries. The independent spirit of the first Americans continues today, and we are still seeing protests against new laws and regulations we don’t believe in, though these days the penalties could be far more severe than five shillings.
As Rome fell and the Middle Ages began, the world of royals with outlandish choices in clothing, funny hats and terrible morals, where ordinary citizens had only the rights the king granted them, also affected the new world. Religion was split between the Roman Catholic church, and the Protestant Church which believed the strict teaching of the scripture was the only way to live. Some of these were called “Puritans.”
In 1630, a group of these Puritans landed on the shores of North America. This was the beginning of a migration of somewhere between 15,000-20,000 English that moved to New England by 1640.
Their goal was to create a new society based on their religious beliefs, without the rules and oversight of the Church of England, which they believed was still too closely aligned with Catholicism. As the ships came on a regular schedule, they brought news, supplies, and the current teaching of the Protestant Church back in England which forbade holidays that they saw as non-biblical. A major holiday on the list was Christmas, which the English Parliament made illegal in 1647.
In 1659, the Puritan leaders convinced one colony, the Massachusetts Bay Colony, to also make it illegal. They enacted a law called “Penalty for Keeping Christmas.” The law condemned the holiday as “festivals as superstitiously kept in other countries” and a “great dishonor of God and offence of others.” They announced that anyone who was found celebrating Christmas by failing to work, feasting, or in any other way, would pay a fine of five shillings for each offense. Five shillings was about what most tradesmen would earn in three days.
To understand a little of the mindset of the people who had come to this new world, try this. Imagine that you and about 120 other passengers, had spent two months at sea on a ship that was only 100 feet long and 25 feet wide. By the time you made it to your new home, you were weak from travel, probably dehydrated, and anxious about your future.
In the beginning, all hands worked to build shelter and a fort for protection from natives that you knew nothing about. After working all day, you had to go back on the ship so you could sleep in safety. When the shelters were finished, the ship left, and you and your companions were on your own.
The first years involved planting crops, hunting, and carving a new home out of the wilderness, while burying your dead along the way. Less than half of the passengers on those early ships would live to see the settlement complete. The harsh winter, disease and starvation claimed young and old alike and were it not for the natives being friendly and generously sharing their food and teaching you how to live in this land, the settlement would have failed completely.
Now a couple of decades after your settlement was established, this shipload of Puritans arrives, bringing with them the current English laws prohibiting the celebration of Christmas. They say that you cannot drink alcohol, spend time feasting and socializing, or take time off from work.
You may not realize it, but you are the first white Americans, and you will act like your descendants will a couple of centuries later. Americans do not like being told what to do and they will fight for the freedom to do as they wish.
There were many who were fined five shillings. Not because they demanded to celebrate Christmas, but because they were told that they couldn’t.
The Puritans had their way for 22 years. In 1681 the ban was lifted, even though it continued for many years in other countries. The independent spirit of the first Americans continues today, and we are still seeing protests against new laws and regulations we don’t believe in, though these days the penalties could be far more severe than five shillings.
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Lonnie McKelvey is a freelance writer from Fort Payne, Alabama, and is a regular contributor to Grandparents Day Magazine. |
