When early English settlers arrived in Virginia in 1607, they brought with them a reverence for their European Christmas traditions. Though their celebrations didn’t match those back home — the hardships of colonial life didn’t allow much fanfare — the Virginia colonists still considered Christmas a sacred and restful day.
In Massachusetts, however, following England’s lead during the English Civil Wars, the Puritans outright banned Christmas in 1659. The extreme Protestants believed the holiday had no biblical basis and denounced its pagan traditions; the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony fined anyone caught celebrating the holiday five shillings. Though England lifted its ban with the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Massachusetts enforced its law until 1681. Even after that, the holiday remained controversial in New England for decades. It wasn’t until 1856 that Christmas officially became a public holiday in the Bay State.
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