EDITIOR’S NOTE: Christmas is a time of commonality for many Americans as they join in celebrating the season of joy and merriment. This month, 828newsNOW will reveal the history of this sacred holiday and how the American mindset has influenced its development over the centuries.
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Melancholy. The only word to describe the sentiment Christmas held during the American Civil War. With mothers longing for their sons to return home and husbands longing to return to their wives and children, joy was hard to come by in the Advent season, but that did not stop people from trying to enjoy the season.
By the outbreak of the American Civil War on April 12, 1861, most of what we consider to be “Christmas traditions” had been founded in England. As evidenced by Charles Dickens’ classic novel “A Christmas Carol,” released in 1843, family feasts, generous gift giving and Christmas trees were all known and beloved tenets of the celebration.
While it was the hardships of the Industrial Revolution that spurned Dickens to write his famous story, it was the suffering from the American Civil War that ultimately wrote the Christmas story in the heart of Americans.
Christmas was something of a divided holiday during the four years of war. Northerners and Southerners alike were unsure whether to celebrate Christmas given the circumstances. Some thought it was too bleak an era for merriment, others said the bleakness was exactly why they needed the merriment.
Whatever their opinions, most tried to celebrate in one way or another, many for the first time in their lives. In a marked swing from the Colonial Christmas controversy, Americans heartedly embraced Christmas as a day of hope and expectation as they longed for peace.
In some ways, Christmas became a national holiday during the American Civil War. Apart from a few skirmishes, Christmas was a silent day despite the belligerency. Due to the relative peace on the battlefields on Christmas day, it came to symbolize hope for both sides, hope for a time when the gunfire and cannon fodder would cease permanently, and they could return home to celebrate with loved ones.
It was also an era of intermingling traditions. With soldiers coming from all corners of the country and some from abroad, a melting pot of traditions occurred, for the first time creating a national idea of what Christmas meant.
For the rich, Christmas festivities carried on as normal. For everyone else on the home front, Christmas was a brief respite in an otherwise impoverished period, with many homes saving rations for a miniscule feast on the joyous day.
As we will see later in this “Christmas History” series during the World Wars, Americans gladly gave up many of their holiday traditions for saving money, doing so as an act of patriotism.
Homemade gifts were given instead of store or catalog-bought treasures due to the economic challenges. Gifts often consisted of wooden toys, popcorn balls, sentimental notes and hand carved ornaments.
Food scarcities caused homes to be more resourceful with Christmas dinners. One popular addition to the table was eggnog, which had been slowly gaining popularity since the colonial days, becoming a staple of holiday parties by the mid-1800s. Eggnog was a cheaper way of making a Christmassy alcoholic drink.
Christmas carols, which had long been a tradition in England, began making inroads in the States, with songs like “Jingle Bells” gaining popularity just prior to the outbreak of war.
It is important to remember that while white folk enjoyed their festivities, the enslaved population in the South were forced to work instead of celebrating, having to cook and serve lavish feasts for their masters.
Care packages and letters sent to soldiers were common throughout the war but were especially common at Christmastide, reminding the men on the battlefield of their loved ones for whom they were fighting for. Often, the men in uniform found spirits in their gift boxes to lift their own spirits, usually brandy or whisky.
Soldiers kept the holiday whenever possible. Some chopped down trees to adorn their tents and others pulled out the best food they had to celebrate. Their meager feasts consisted of salted ham and hard tack, while their families, if they could afford it in the wartime economy, would have been indulging in delicacies such as cakes, wine and roasted hams.
For the most part, soldiers were permitted to relax on the holiday, but their moods were mostly sullen, yearning to share the holiday with loved ones at home. Families could not help feeling the same, hoping for their sons, husbands, fathers and brothers to safely return home soon.
Thomas Nast, a political cartoonist, began publishing sketches of Santa Claus in Harper’s Weekly, the most popular periodical of the era. A German immigrant, Nast used the character from his home country as a war propaganda tool, akin to how Uncle Sam was later used. In early depictions, the jolly bearded fellow could be seen holding up Confederate President Jefferson Davis by a noose.
The character quickly caught on with families at home and soldiers in the camps on both sides of the war. Santa Claus transcended his initial status as a political organ, becoming a national symbol of Christmas in only a few short years.
With the economic turmoil during the war, some mothers in the South had taken to telling their children that Santa Claus might not make it through the naval blockade the Union had set up to bring them presents. At least one family went so far as to tell their children that the Yankees had shot Santa Claus.
Christmas trees surged in popularity during and shortly after the war, in part due to the national periodicals. The same illustrations that had made Santa Claus a household name had made the fir a household plant for the holiday season. The lack of cost involved with chopping down a tree and propping it up inside likely helped spread the tradition in a time of rationing and thriftiness.
By the end of the Civil War, Christmas was an institution in the newly reunited United States of America. In 1870, Congress could no longer ignore the ardor for the holiday. They voted to enshrine the joyous day in law, allowing all Americans to celebrate yearly on Dec. 25.
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