The more pressure the English king exerted on the colonists, the more they resisted. As the settlement grew, and more English emigrated to the area, tensions grew between the Puritans and British. That second Christmas was the first time the celebration was forbidden in Massachusetts, but the ban didn’t make it into the law books until several years later. His response, as noted in his writings was: “If they made the keeping of it matter of devotion, let them keep their houses, but there should be no gameing or revelling in the streets.”
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He responded he would spare them “until they were better informed.” But when he returned at noon, he found them playing games in the street. Bradford recorded that on the morning of the 25th, he had called everyone out to work, but some men from the newly arrived ship “Fortune” told him it was against their conscience to work on Christmas. Sickness had wiped out many of their group, and for the first time they were facing hostility by one of the Native American tribes in the area. But the events of the second Christmas celebrated by Puritans in Massachusetts were documented by the group’s governor, William Bradford. Some of the new settlers celebrated Christmas, while others did not. Records indicate the first Christmas in the new world passed uneventfully. “For preventing disorders, arising in several places within this jurisdiction by reason of some still observing such festivals as were superstitiously kept in other communities, to the great dishonor of God and offense of others: it is therefore ordered by this court and the authority thereof that whosoever shall be found observing any such day as Christmas or the like, either by forbearing of labor, feasting, or any other way, upon any such account as aforesaid, every such person so offending shall pay for every such offence five shilling as a fine to the county.” The ban was probably as much political as it was religious for many. Finally, the British had been applying pressure on the Puritans for a while to conform to English customs. Although rare, there were cases of wassailing in early New England. If a host refused, there was the threat of retribution. The older custom entailed people of a lower economic class visiting wealthier community members and begging, or demanding, food and drink in return for toasts to their hosts’ health. One such tradition, “wassailing” occasionally turned violent. Thirdly, the holiday celebration usually included drinking, feasting, and playing games – all things which the Puritans frowned upon.
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December 25th wasn’t selected as the birth date of Christ until several centuries after his death. Secondly, they didn’t consider the holiday a truly religious day. First of all, it reminded them of the Church of England and the old-world customs, which they were trying to escape. The Puritans who emigrated to Massachusetts to build a new life had several reason for disliking Christmas. In fact, it wasn’t until the mid-1800s that celebrating Christmas became fashionable in the Boston region.
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The ban existed as law for only 22 years, but disapproval of Christmas celebration took many more years to change. In fact, the culture and way of thinking that led to the ban was an important, as well as controversial, part of life in 17th and 18th century Massachusetts. Outlawing the celebration of Christmas sounds a little extreme, but it happened.