From VOA Learning English, welcome to The Making of a Nation, our weekly program of American history for people learning American English. |
I’m Steve Ember. Today Shirley Griffith and I present a special program on Christmas traditions in the United States during the first half of the 19th century. |
During this period, Christmas was a very different kind of holiday than it is today. |
There was no set way of celebrating the day, which was not yet an official holiday. |
Communities around the country honored the day in different ways. |
Some observed Christmas as an important Christian religious day honoring the birth of Jesus. |
Others celebrated the day with parties, music, drinking and eating. |
And, some communities did not celebrate the day at all. |
But, it was during this period that Americans began to reinvent the holiday by combining ancient Christmas traditions from different cultures with modern American influences. |
You can think about the historical people we have been talking about, Andrew Jackson, Martin van Buren and others, and the ways they too might have celebrated Christmas. |
In 1819, the popular American writer Washington Irving wrote a series of five essays published in a book called “The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.” |
The essays describe a wealthy British landowner who invites his farm workers into his home to celebrate Christmas. |
The landowner recreates a traditional Christmas as it would have been celebrated in the distant past. |
Irving praised this looking back to ancient traditions. |
He liked the idea of different levels of society coming together to enjoy a festive and peaceful holiday. |
Washington Irving seemed to express concern about the lack of such unifying Christmas traditions in modern America. |
Penne Restad wrote a book “Christmas in America: A History.” |
It shows how Americans began to slowly shape Christmas into a unifying national holiday during the first half of the 19th century. |
She describes how Christmas had different meanings for Americans who came from different cultural and religious backgrounds. |
Many immigrants brought Christmas traditions from their own countries. |
Religion played a big role in how an American might celebrate the holiday. |
Calvinist Christians banned the celebration of Christmas. |
But groups such as Episcopalians and Moravians honored the day with religious services and seasonal decorations. |
By mid-century, Christian groups began to ignore their religious differences over the meaning of Christmas and honored the day in special ways. |
Christmas became an important time for families to celebrate at home. |
More and more Christian Americans also began to follow the European traditions of Christmas trees and giving gifts. |
Christians believed that the tree represented Jesus and was also a sign of new beginnings. |
German immigrants brought their tradition of putting lights, sweets and toys on the branches of evergreen trees placed in their homes. |
This tradition of setting up a Christmas tree soon spread to many American homes. |
So did the practice of giving people presents. |
As these traditions increased in popularity, the modern trade and business linked to Christmas also grew. |
As Christmas became more popular, some states declared the day a state holiday. |
Louisiana was the first state to make the move in 1837. |
By 1860, 14 other states had followed. |
It was not until 1870 that President Ulysses Grant made Christmas a federal holiday. |
Americans already knew old Christmas songs that came from England and other areas of Europe. |
But many new American Christmas songs started to become popular. |
For example, in eighteen forty-nine, a religious leader from Massachusetts wrote the words to “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.” |
The song “Jingle Bells” appeared seven years later. |
And, a year later, a religious leader in Williamsport, Pennsylvania wrote the song “We Three Kings of Orient Are.” |
And of course, no discussion of Christmas would be complete without talking about of one of the holiday’s most famous representations, Santa Claus. |
This character is based on the story of Saint Nicholas, a Christian holy person believed to have lived in the third century. |
Saint Nicholas became known as a protector of children. |
In his role as a Christmas hero, different cultures have given him different names. |
These include Sinterklaas, Kris Kringle and Father Christmas. |
But for most Americans his most popular name would become Santa Claus. |
In the 19th century, many Dutch immigrants living in the United States celebrated the feast of Saint Nicholas on December sixth. |
Saint Nicholas was especially important to New Yorkers because of their history as a Dutch colony. |
In 1809, Washington Irving published his “History of New York.” |