Massachusetts legal history went through a scrooge like period a few centuries ago. The Massachusetts Travel Journal recently wrote about this dark time in our history:
Outlawing the celebration of Christmas sounds extreme, but it happened here in Massachusetts during the 1600’s. Puritans who immigrated to Massachusetts had several reason for disliking Christmas. It reminded them of the Church of England and the old-world customs, they were trying to escape. Christmas wasn’t considered a wholly religious day because December 25th wasn't widely recognized as Christ’s birth date until several centuries after his death. The holiday celebration mainly included drinking and feasting, things which the Puritans frowned upon.
One such tradition, "wassailing" entailed people of a lower economic class visiting wealthy community members and begging, or demanding, food and drink. If a host refused, they faced the threat of retribution.
As a result, the Massachusetts General Court banned the celebration of Christmas and other such holidays at the same time it banned gambling and other lawless behavior. The ban was revoked in 1681 by an English-appointed governor Sir Edmund Andros, who also revoked a Puritan ban against festivities on Saturday nights.
Outlawing the celebration of Christmas sounds extreme, but it happened here in Massachusetts during the 1600’s. Puritans who immigrated to Massachusetts had several reason for disliking Christmas. It reminded them of the Church of England and the old-world customs, they were trying to escape. Christmas wasn’t considered a wholly religious day because December 25th wasn't widely recognized as Christ’s birth date until several centuries after his death. The holiday celebration mainly included drinking and feasting, things which the Puritans frowned upon.
One such tradition, "wassailing" entailed people of a lower economic class visiting wealthy community members and begging, or demanding, food and drink. If a host refused, they faced the threat of retribution.
As a result, the Massachusetts General Court banned the celebration of Christmas and other such holidays at the same time it banned gambling and other lawless behavior. The ban was revoked in 1681 by an English-appointed governor Sir Edmund Andros, who also revoked a Puritan ban against festivities on Saturday nights.
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