| There's no doubt that Christmas is one of the most | | | | monthly fasts which fell on Christmas day during |
| celebrated holidays in America. But how did the | | | | December. Christmas celebrations were "strongly |
| Christmas celebration begin? This look at Christmas | | | | prohibited" and in 1652 fines were imposed on |
| from it's origins to the celebrations of today reveals an | | | | businesses that decorated or closed in observance of |
| informative and eye-opening look at this popular | | | | the holiday. There was some resistance to the law but |
| holiday. | | | | the largess of previous celebrations was drastically |
| Like many American traditions, the Christmas holiday | | | | reduced to small reverend observances. |
| can be traced back to Europe. During the fourth | | | | It was within this turbulent era that English Christmas |
| century, Romans celebrated a "Feast of the Nativity" | | | | customs entered early Virginia and New England. |
| held on December 17th. This celebration was based on | | | | Though most settlers observed the holiday, the types |
| the Christian observance of the birth of Jesus. Pagan | | | | of celebrations varied throughout the regions. Some |
| feasts and rituals were also popular during this time | | | | celebrated it as a feast and some as a purely religious |
| period. Many Romans paid homage to their deities | | | | holiday. While most observed Christmas there were |
| during a week's long celebration held from December | | | | some that didn't such as the Puritans of |
| 17 through January 1st. | | | | Massachusetts Bay Colony. And in some areas the |
| Concerned by the increasing popularity of pagan | | | | hardships and challenges of the land did not permit the |
| worship and the annual pagan festival, the Roman | | | | settler's free time for celebrations of any kind. |
| Church changed the official date of the Nativity Feast | | | | The observance of Christmas was recorded in |
| to December 25th in an effort to curtail rampant | | | | non-English settlements as being more religious in |
| pagan celebrations. | | | | nature. The French settlers of St Croix Island off the |
| Over the next thousand years, the observance of | | | | coast of Maine held religious observances and spent |
| Christmas followed the expanding community of | | | | the remainder of the day playing games. |
| Christianity. The spreading Christian community took | | | | As the first settlements grew into more established |
| the holiday far Northward into England. From the 13th | | | | colonies patterns of Christmas observances began to |
| century on, nearly all of Europe observed Christmas. | | | | form that were unique to the geographic area. The |
| These Christmas celebrations involved heathen | | | | distance from European homelands, the disparate |
| indulgences that were discouraged the rest of the | | | | religious and ethnic groups and the hardship of the new |
| year. The annual celebration included over-eating, | | | | beginnings disrupted old habits and holiday traditions. |
| dancing, singing, card playing and gambling; pleasures | | | | Pennsylvania was home to a large group of Quakers |
| which escalated to magnificent proportions over the | | | | who, like the Puritans, were against observance of the |
| years. | | | | holiday. They believed that most Christmas revelers |
| In 1607, King James I insisted that a play be acted on | | | | spent the day in riot and drunkenness. Though Quaker |
| Christmas night along with the playing of Christmas | | | | areas did not celebrate Christmas, the Moravians, |
| games. In another account of the secular nature of the | | | | Dutch Reformers and Anglicans all held observances |
| holiday a feast noted 16 different dishes for the first | | | | in their own way. By and large, most settlers in the |
| course. In 1626, the Duke of Buckingham charged the | | | | New World welcomed Christmas as a day of respite |
| entire crew of three ships, including the ship's captains, | | | | from the routines of work and hardship that came with |
| with abandoning their service in favor of Christmas | | | | establishing new lands. |
| revels, leaving their vessels preys to any enemy. | | | | The disparate Christmas observances continued until |
| As the magnitude of the Christmas celebration grew, | | | | the American Revolution. The next hundred years |
| religious institutions of the day struggled to gain control | | | | following the Revolution shaped the way Americans |
| of the holiday. However, it continued to be a religious | | | | celebrated the holiday. During the 1800's as areas |
| event celebrated through the pleasures and | | | | grew in population and prosperity Christmas |
| indulgences that went against the holy teachings of the | | | | observances began to resemble the Christmas |
| day. | | | | celebrations as we know them. |
| During the 1600 and 1700's Puritan Reformers took aim | | | | Today it is observed as a family centered celebration |
| at changing the lack of religious activities of the | | | | complete with traditional foods, Christmas tree, |
| Christmas celebration. They declared it a day of | | | | decorations, parties and gift-giving. Many celebrate by |
| mourning rather than a day of rejoicing. This along with | | | | attending religious ceremonies and participating in |
| the economic and social upheavals of the day began | | | | religious practices. Much like its origins, today's |
| to alter English life and the way Christmas was | | | | Christmas celebrations remains to be an observance |
| celebrated. The spread of the Puritan Reformers | | | | of a religious event with much festivity and merriment. |
| movement took hold and its policies continued to chip | | | | As America's most popular holiday, it is celebrated as |
| away at the pagan nature of the celebrations. In 1642, | | | | a season of joy, peace and hope for humankind. |
| Parliament outlawed seasonal plays and ordered | | | | |