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Laws were passed in Massachusetts which forced men to work on Christmas Day. A law of 1659 stated:
“Anybody who is found observing, by abstinence from labor, feasting, or any other way, any such days as Christmas Day, shall pay for the offence - 5 shillings.”
Ironically enough, some “good” came out of this. Many of the colonists who opposed these laws left and settled in Connecticut, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. (New Haven, Conn., was an exception. Here Puritanism was so strong that husbands and wives could not even exchange kisses.)
It is said that a feast was used as a substitute for Christmas among the Puritans when they counted their blessings and gave thanks for them. This feast later become our Thanksgiving.
Laws and a governor helped to change the trend of Christmas celebrations in Massachusetts for those who desired to celebrate. In 1681, the anti-Christmas Law was repealed, but December 25 remained a working day. In 1686, Governor Andros conducted Christmas services in the Boston Town Hall. But the greatest change came about in 1791 when the Constitution contained a provision separating the church from the state.
Elsewhere in the 17th century, Christmas was celebrated. New York considered Christmas a Holy Day, and there were churchgoing and quiet family feasting. Visiting and feasting continued until New Year’s Day when there were “open houses” and a gift to the first one to shout out “Merry Christmas” or “Happy New Year.” The custom of New Year’s Day “open houses” originated in New York at this time.
Christmas was celebrated in the Maryland-Virginia area all along because the colonists arrived to better their fortunes; they did not come for spiritual or political reasons. They remained remote enough from Cromwell and the Puritans and defied their “anti-Christ-tide edicts.”
It was because of this freedom of religious and political choice that Maryland became known as the “Free State.”
During the early 1600s, only Christmas Day and Good Friday
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