which u.s. city banned christmas in 1659?
Penalty for Keeping Christmas was an ordinance that the Massachusetts Bay Colony passed in 1659. When was Christmas banned in Massachusetts? A group of religious Christians might find it odd that the Puritans who went from England in 1620 to found the Massachusetts Bay Colony brought with them scorn for Christmas. Contrary to contemporary custom, the Puritans observed Christmas Day by keeping their businesses and educational institutions open while keeping their churches closed. Christmas was one of the first things the Puritans in England did after overthrowing King Charles I in 1649 and hacking off the monarch's head. Instead, December 25 was mandated by Parliament to be a day of "fasting and humiliation" for Englishmen to atone for their transgressions. The Massachusetts Bay Colony's General Court declared in 1659 that anyone found to be celebrating Christmas or a similar holiday in public would be subject to a 5-shilling fine and would be breaking the law. Th...