by Tim Beachum

Are you one of those rare individuals who think out side of the box? If so then chances are you have probably wondered about Christmas. What was it like? How did it come about? Whos bright idea was it anyway?

It would be virtually impossible for me to tell the whole story in one article. However I will give you a few facts that most human beings do not know. At your next family gathering you are sure to be the hit of the party (or maybe not).

Lets take a little trip to what I like to call Christmas past. We will travel all the way back to the early 17th century. Im talking about a time when a wave of religious change, the holiday known, as Christmas would be forever changed in the land of Europe. When a guy by the name of Oliver Cromwell and his puritan followers invaded England in 1645, they vowed to rid England of decadence, which lead to the cancellation of Christmas. Eventually Charles II was restored to the throne, so was Christmas.

Continue reading Things just getting interesting!

The group of pilgrims, English separatists that came to America in 1620, were even more orthodox in their Puritan beliefs than Cromwell. This meant that Christmas was not a holiday in the early days of America. In fact from 1659 to 1681, the act of celebrating Christmas was actually illegal in Boston. If you were caught celebrating the Christmas holiday in any way shape or form you were fined five shillings. In contrast, during the Jamestown settlement, a guy by the name Captain John Smith reported that Christmas was enjoyed by all and passed without incident.

I cannot help but wonder what it was like to live during such a controversial time. Could you imagine what it would be like today if you had to sneak and celebrate Christmas? Really take a few minutes and put yourself in the moment. Imagine leaving the mall with a few gifts for the kids and the police would stop you and search your bags. I dont know about you, but I would be mortified because Christmas is my favorite holiday out of the year.

Any way this nonsense continued until after the American Revolution when English customs began to fall out of favor, this included Christmas. Another thing that is a little hard to believe is that Congress was actually in session on December 25, 1789, the first Christmas under Americas new constitution. The fact of the matter is Christmas wasnt declared a federal holiday until June 26, 1870.

Well my friend those are the facts as they happened. If you found this article to be interesting please do a search on this site for my other Christmas fact articles. Also check out the link below for a complete listing of my free coloring pages, for parents, teachers, and other educators.

About the Author:
This is the first in a series of Xmas history related articles brought to you by Tim Beachum. You can also download Free Xmas Coloring Pages Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service

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