When Christmas was banned in Boston,To the Puritans of the 17th century, Christmas was terrible thin

When Christmas was banned in Boston,To the Puritans of the 17th century, Christmas was terrible thing.  Christmas was the time to celebrate the birth of Jesus by praying, being humble, and working hard, all with a spirit of self denial.  In the mid 17th century Christmas was banned in Britain by Oliver Cromwell’s Parliament. In America the Puritans wanted something similar.  The Rev. Increase Mather (pictured above), father of Cotton Mather, spearheaded the movement to ban Christmas with this denouncement,“it is consumed in Compotations, in Interludes, in playing at Cards, in Revellings, in excess of Wine, in Mad Mirth.”In 1659 the City of Boston banned Christmas, the law stating,“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.”Boston’s ban on Christmas lasted 22 years.  In 1681 a royal governor named Sir Edmond Andros took control of governance of the colony and rolled back many Puritan laws, including Boston’s ban on Christmas.  However, Christmas was still de facto illegal by many other laws.  Civil servants could be removed from their posts, public school students could be expelled for skipping Christmas Day.  Celebrating Christmas was also highly looked down upon by Bostonians.  When Gov. Andros attended Christmas celebrations in 1686, he had to be guarded by a regiment of soldiers to fend off a mob of angry Puritans.  Christmas celebrations didn’t come back into fashion in Boston until after the American Civil War. -- source link

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