"Opposition of the
English Puritans to festivals culminated in an act of Parliament
in 1647 which abolished the observance of Christmas,
Easter, and Whitsuntide. This was echoed in 1659 when
Puritans of the American colonies enacted a law
in the General Court of Massachusetts to punish
those who 'kept Christmas'."
- The American Christmas: a study in
national culture,
by
James Harwood Barnett, p.3
"In general,
Puritans, Baptists, Presbyterians, and Quakers strongly
opposed the religious observance of Christmas, but members
of the Church of England, the Dutch Reformed, Lutheran, and
Roman Catholic churches, as well as the German
sects, carefully followed their traditional
celebrations."
- The American Christmas: a study in
national culture,
by
James Harwood Barnett, p.2