Ahh, Christmas: The
time where thousands will be tearing wrapping paper and thinking of Baby Jesus.
Many will file into church for their two day-a-year limit (Christmas and
Easter). Electric bills will sky-rocket as lights and decorations fill yards
and rooftops. And Santa will probably scare at least one toddler this season….
I know you all are
going to be surprised: I’m going to help you think of Christmas in a Civil War
way this year.
In the days of the
Civil War, Christmas wasn’t an actual holiday. (For you buffs who care, it wasn’t until
1870 when President Ulysses S. Grant made Christmas a national holiday.)
However, that doesn’t mean that America was lacking Christmas spirit for its
first 100 years as a country! Here are some cool facts about Christmas in
America:
- It first was a European holiday. I’m sure you’ve heard about its German roots...
- When the Pilgrims first came to America, they rejected the holiday because they considered it wrong according to their Puritan beliefs. These Puritans actually banned it for 20 years or so in Massachusetts during the seventeenth century!
- Even though it wasn’t an official holiday, lots of Germans (and many others, as well…) still celebrated it. They set up trees, sang carols; even made Christmas cards!
The
Lincoln family was no less touched by this season. Abraham
Lincoln and his wife, Mary, made this a special time at the White House. They
started out the presidency with a Christmas party held right at the White
House. Mary was filled with the Christmas spirit as she raised over $1000 to use to help
others, and she and her husband began a tradition of visiting wounded soldiers in
hospitals.
Tad
Lincoln decided he also wanted to help during Christmas. He would accompany his
father to hospitals, and though he’d receive gifts on Christmas morning,
(fruit, small toys, candy, etc.) he wanted to do something so the wounded could
as well. He asked his father’s permission, and upon receiving it, he collected
books and clothing to send to the wounded soldiers. His father even put
“From Tad Lincoln” on the boxes so the soldiers could know personally who it
was from.
(Tad Lincoln)
It’s
not positive evidence whether or not the Lincolns decorated a Christmas tree in
the White House, but many were decorated during this time. Popcorn was a favorite decoration, but dried fruit was also used. Soldiers also set up trees at
Christmas, but they had to use what they had for decoration: Hardtack and
salted pork.
Even some of our traditional Christmas songs
were written during the Civil War. “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” was written
in 1863; on Christmas day, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. During this 1863 Christmas, Longfellow was thinking of his wife-whom he’d lost 2 years before to a fire-and
nursing his wounded son. This son, “Charley”, was supposed to be paralyzed by
the Confederate bullet that scraped his spine by less than an inch. As
Longfellow listened to the bells ‘on Christmas Day”, he wasn’t feeling very “Christmas-ey”.
His wife was dead, his son almost died and escaped paralysis by less than an inch, his country was at war with itself and had
been for almost 3 years. He then wrote a poem of irony, claiming that the bells
were proclaiming peace while the earth was on fire with hate. Read the Poem Here. By the way, I
looked in three different hymnals that I have, and all three excluded the two “Civil
War” stanzas in the middle of Longfellow’s poem. Interesting…
Well,
there you have it. Anyone want to celebrate Christmas with me this year? We’ll hang
some hardtack on our trees, sing the old, traditional carols, and maybe have
time to visit some wounded soldiers. No takers? Well, at least you know what
Lincoln was doing with himself on Christmas, and how he was training his family
to do likewise.
~Merry Christmas to your family this year!!~
Sources:
I really enjoyed this post, Abbie! Very interesting to read the complete version of Longellow's poem :)
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