Updated: December 30, 2025
Christmas Beyond Washington’s Crossing
This post isn’t just about dramatic Christmas moments from the American Revolution, like Washington crossing the Delaware River, nor is it a light look at decorations, caroling, or festive foods. Instead, it explores the evolution of how we Americans have observed and celebrated Christmas, which, in many ways, is revealing of our nation’s cultural and political transformation since the Colonial Era.
Here’s how I’ve structured the post:
- Part I (this post):
- Importance of Revolutionary Christmas
- Christmas across the colonies
- Christmas highlights of the Revolution
- Part II:
- Backdrop to Christmas in America – my take on this history
- Part III:
- Christmas and U.S. presidents: video and edited transcript of my in-depth interview with Dr. Carey Roberts
The featured image is titled Washington Crossing the Delaware. Its Revolutionary history is detailed later in the post.
Christmas in the Revolutionary Era: Why It Matters
When we think of Christmas during the American Revolution, most of us picture Washington crossing the Delaware River for a surprise attack on the Hessians. That is an iconic and transformative event of the Revolution and should be remembered – hence it’s the featured image of this post. Still, it should not overshadow the many different Christmas traditions of the Revolutionary Era. Why? Because the evolution of Christmas in America mirrors and impacts the evolution of American culture and history.
In this post, you will note the diversity of how American colonists and later Americans observed and celebrated Christmas, if at all! This diversity stems from regional, religious, and ethnic differences. It also reflects the transformation of our federal government into a large national administration (think FDR, which we discuss below) as well as the explosive growth of commercial industries and our consumer culture.
To a great extent, the evolution of Christmas traditions from colonial America to Revolutionary America, and then to the United States and our modern superpower, reflects the transformation of our country from separate colonies — and later separate states — into a nation that stretches from sea to shining sea, and later influences events around the world.
If I were to sum it up, evolution of the American Christmas is part and parcel of our nation-building project. And that’s why it interests me.
In short, the evolution of the American Christmas is inseparable from our nation-building story — and that’s what makes it so compelling to me.
Regional Differences of Christmas
Christmas in the colonies was a mixed bag. As you will note, Christmas during the Revolutionary Era, and for decades later, was not the child-focused, commercialized holiday we are accustomed to. To the extent Christmas was celebrated, it was done so mostly as an adult event.
New England
In New England—Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut—the epicenter of the Revolutionary War at the time, Christmas was mostly shunned by strict Puritans who believed Christmas celebrations were excesses rooted in pagan practices. In their view, the holiday was overly indulgent and superstitious.
Instead of feasting and singing, New Englanders were likely to spend Christmas working, praying, or attending church. As a result, for many families, Christmas was a quiet, sober, and reflective experience.
But New England’s cultural animosity toward Christmas wasn’t limited to merely shunning it. The Massachusetts General Court (the colony’s bicameral legislature) formally banned Christmas celebrations, and many towns followed suit by banning public festivities.
New England’s Christmas ban stemmed from England’s own ban centuries earlier, which I discuss below.
Middle Colonies
The middle colonies—Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey—were a different story.
With German, Dutch, English, and other settlers, Christmas was festive and, to some extent, more familiar to us today. People decorated with greenery, baked special breads, pies, and cookies, and sang carols in multiple languages.
In cities like Philadelphia, community gatherings and church services offered an opportunity to connect, celebrate, and feel some sense of normalcy during wartime.
Mummering
I had heard the term mummering (also mumming) in relation to Christmas traditions, so I researched it for this post.
Traditionally, mummers coordinated in groups of friends or families. They dressed in disguise and walked through their communities during the twelve days of Christmas, visiting neighbors and acquaintances. If welcomed into a home, two things happened. First, they performed—dancing, singing, reciting, or telling jokes—all while remaining in disguise. Second, their hosts attempted to guess their identities. If and when their identities were discovered, the mummers removed their disguises and socialized with their hosts before moving on to the next house.
Based on my research, mummering was practiced in the American colonies and appears to have been largely limited to the Middle Colonies.
It is believed that mummering originated as a Christmas tradition in England and Ireland. It was brought to Newfoundland by Irish immigrants and, perhaps from there, made its way to the American colonies.
Today, it is still practiced in Philadelphia. In fact, since 1901, Philadelphia has continuously held the Mummers Parade on New Year’s Day.
Southern Colonies
In the Southern colonies—Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia—Anglicans and others celebrated Christmas with feasts, dancing, and modest festivities. Simple decorations, such as evergreens, were common, especially in Virginia.
Traditions also included Twelfth Night balls on January 6, which marks the Christian feast of the Epiphany.
Washington’s Christmas Tradition
At Mount Vernon, in Fairfax County, Virginia, George Washington gave his servants, indentured servants, and enslaved workers time off during Christmas—a rare four-day break from work (December 25–28).
As you are well aware, during the American Revolution, as Commander of the Continental Army, Washington rarely spent Christmas at Mount Vernon. In his absence, his cousin Lund Washington managed the estate, including the administration of holiday traditions.
When servants, indentured servants, and enslaved workers were required to work during the Christmas period, records indicate they were compensated with food, alcohol, or occasionally a small amount of money.
Christmas as a Revolutionary Turning Point (1773–1776)
Generally speaking, Christmas during the American Revolution was not a big deal. Even that may be an overstatement, because for all intents and purposes, for the thirteen colonies in revolution, Christmas was a nonevent. Evidence of this is that in 1789, just six years after the Revolution ended, the U.S. Congress met on Christmas Day. Certainly, had Christmas been an important event, as it is now, Congress would not have met then.
It’s worth noting that Christmas did not become a federal holiday until 1870.
There is another important point here. Remember at the top when I mentioned the evolution of Christmas and nation building? To a great extent, that story begins with the Revolutionary War.
In our program, Dr. Rick Herrera of the U.S. Army War College explains that in the Continental Army, Anglican soldiers from the South served alongside Puritan soldiers from the North and Presbyterians from the Middle Colonies. They also served alongside newly-arrived Europeans, whose Christmas traditions often differed from colonial customs discussed above.
So in serving along soldiers and officers of such diverse backgrounds, Continental soldiers learned new Christmas customs and cultures, which they carried back to their homes.
In learning and adopting each other’s customs, Continental soldiers were not just celebrating Christmas—they were weaving the threads of a shared culture that would become foundational for the new nation.
This is not an unusual development. Throughout history—and particularly in American history—the mixing of soldiers in war has led to profound cultural and social changes after the conflict. One salient example is WWII: desegregation of the U.S. military occurred in 1948 and was followed by the Civil Rights movement.
My interview with Dr. Herrera will be linked here when it publishes.
1773 Christmas – A Changed Colonial America
I am aware that the Revolution didn’t start until 1775. So why start this history in 1773?
Because something important happened on Christmas Day that year.
Can you think of an event in the American colonies on December 25, 1773, that relates to the Revolution?
On that day, Philadelphia Patriots turned the ship Polly away from their harbor.
This was not an isolated incident.
In Charles Town, South Carolina (renamed Charleston in 1783), colonists prevented tea from being unloaded from ships, forcing customs officials to confiscate it. Other towns followed in 1774: New York, Yorktown, Edenton (North Carolina), and Chestertown (Maryland).
Of course, the Boston Tea Party had already occurred on December 16, 1773, when 342 chests of valuable tea were dumped into Boston Harbor—a bold protest against the Tea Act.
Why does this matter? Because the American colonies changed on that Christmas.
After the Boston Tea Party and other tea protests, the British Parliament passed the Coercive Acts to punish the colonists for destroying highly valuable private property belonging to the East India Company, which wielded significant influence in Parliament.
These were Coercive Acts, not acts of conciliation. So, no wonder the American colonists called them the Intolerable Acts.
The Intolerable Acts propelled the colonies toward open defiance. Equally important, they spurred Americans to organize collective protests and actions against British policies. Examples include the Committees of Correspondence and Committees of Safety, which would become highly active and effective from 1774 through 1776.
In short, Christmas 1773 marked a turning point toward open defiance—a fact Americans were likely aware of as they observed or celebrated that day. In addition, these collective acts of defiance, though focused on liberty, also forged bonds among colonists that helped define an emerging American identity.
1775 Christmas – A Rebellious Colonial America
The Battles of Lexington and Concord occurred on April 19, 1775.
Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775.
On August 23, 1775, King George III received news of Bunker Hill and, reportedly on the same day, issued the Proclamation of Rebellion (officially titled A Proclamation for Suppressing Rebellion and Sedition).
In his Proclamation, the King declared the colonies to be in “open and avowed rebellion”. And really, after the Battle of Bunker Hill, there was no other way to describe the American colonies: had revealed their true identity and intention—they were rebels staging a rebellion.
In 1775, George Washington was not enjoying Christmas at Mount Vernon. Along with thousands of other colonists, he was encamped near Boston, planning how to dislodge the British (which eventually happened in March 1776).
One very important note:
As Prof. Harvey Kaye explains in our program, at this point of the American Revolution, Washington and his officers still toasted King George III. In the grand scheme of the Revolution, American Patriots still saw themselves as British subjects seeking more rights within the Empire.
But as you’ll see below, a key publication—not the Declaration—would quickly shift perceptions and the intellectual landscape of the colonial elite.
My interview with Prof. Kaye will be linked here when it publishes.
Battle of Trenton – 1776 Christmas
Before we discuss the Battle of Trenton, two publications deserve attention here.
On January 10, 1776, Thomas Paine published Common Sense in Philadelphia. Barely 50 pages long, this pamphlet set the colonies on an irreversible path toward all-out independence.
The second is the Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson with input from John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston.
As I spoke with Prof. Kaye explain Common Sense and its influential advocacy for independence, I wondered if without it the Declaration may not have emerged when it did, or in the form and language we know today.
On December 25, 1776, General Washington’s forces crossed the Delaware River north of Trenton to mount a surprise attack.
The story we learned from popular history is that Washington’s forces caught drunkard Hessians by surprise the next morning, on December 26. The visuals of this story – sober Americans surprise attack on the drunk Hessians – was great PR for the Continental Army and a moral booster for the Americans in general. But the story is not true.
Popular history tells us that the Americans caught drunk Hessians by surprise the next morning, December 26. While some Hessian soldiers may have celebrated with food and drink, historians agree most were simply exhausted from continuous harassment by Americans and let down their guard – had fewer patrols and outposts.
Although a brief and relatively small engagement, Dr. Herrera emphasizes the battle’s effect: boosting American morale and giving the Continental Army a decisive strategic advantage, particularly by limiting British movements and communications. That interview will be linked here when it publishes.
It’s worth noting that the Battle of Trenton involved a series of engagements. Washington and his army crossed the Delaware three times and defeated Hessians and British forces on each occasion, including troops under Lord Cornwallis, who would later become famous for the 1781 Siege of Yorktown.
Another scholar in our program, Dr. Daniel Krebs of the U.S. Army War College, explains the story of the Hessians in the Revolution. That interview will also be linked here when it publishes.
Christmas During War, Victory, and Uncertainty (1777–1783)
Valley Forge Winter Encampment (1777 Christmas)
On December 19, 1777, the Continental Army, led by George Washington, arrived at their winter encampment. This is the grim story of Valley Forge. Washington’s army battled disease, cold, and starvation, with many soldiers freezing or dying as a consequence of the brutal conditions.
As Dr. Paul Lockhart explains in our program, Valley Forge was not the coldest winter of the American Revolution. The following winter in Morristown, New Jersey, was much colder. The depredations suffered by the Continental Army in Valley Forge had more to do with lack of provisions than solely the weather. By way of example, Dr. Lockhart details the shanty huts that Continental soldiers built to fight the elements. That interview will be linked here when it publishes.
In addition, Dr. Herrera, mentioned above, explains the Continental Army’s food supplies, and why it failed miserably in Valley Forge. This is a fascinating interview that is based on Dr. Herrera’s book Feeding Washington’s Army: Surviving the Valley Forge Winter of 1778. That interview will be linked here when it publishes.
But Valley Forge is also a story of transformation and revival for the Continental Army. Dr. Lockhart hammers in the point that the Continental Army that came out of Valley Forge (June 1778) was a much more professional and lethal force. This is an important development for Washington’s war strategy, and we discuss it in the context of Dr. Lockhart’s fantastic book, The Drillmaster of Valley Forge: The Baron de Steuben and the Making of the American Army.
The Continental Army’s growth into a professional, disciplined force also fostered a collective identity—another key step in the nation-building of revolutionary America.
Although Christmas 1777 was marked by hardship, soldiers may have observed small gestures of the season, such as shared meals or brief gatherings, reflecting early wartime Christmas traditions.
British Southern Strategy and Christmas in 1778
In 1778, the nature of the Revolutionary War changed.
On February 6, 1778, France formally joined the American Revolutionary War by signing the Treaty of Alliance on February 6, 1778. In addition to the diplomatic efforts of Benjamin Franklin and Silas Deane in France, which Prof. Joel Paul details in interview with me, the event that facilitated this formal alliance was the resounding American victory in the Battle of Saratoga (Sept. 19 and Oct. 7, 1777).
On December 29, 1778, the British captured Savannah, Georgia. This marked a major shift in Britain’s war strategy to the South. This shift happened for two reason (and these are gross generalizations):
- l After the Battle of Saratoga, the British were not making much headway in the North, and
- l The British falsely believed that thousands of Loyalists in the South would rise to their support.
Colonists in Savannah may have observed Christmas 1778 with subdued celebrations amid military occupation and uncertainty.
Yorktown and British Defeat, 1781 Christmas
On December 15, 1781, Comte de Rochambeau hosted a grand banquet and dance in Williamsburg, Virginia. And the Continental Congress proclaimed the same day as a day of national celebration in honor of the victory.
As you well know, Rochambeau was the commander-in-chief of the Expédition Particulière, the French expeditionary force sent to North America to support our Revolutionary War.
Of course, the above celebrations and proclamations were in honor of American and French victory in Yorktown, which fell to their joint forces after a three-week siege (Sept. 28 – Oct. 19, 1781).
Although the War was not yet over – small scale skirmishes continued, after Yorktown the British will to continue the fight crumbled and the American colonies saw no more major actions.
Even amid national celebrations, Christmas 1781 was marked by the duality of victory and mourning in the colonies.
Washington’s Grief
During the Siege of Yorktown, General Washington was accompanied by his stepson, John Parke Custis, who served as his civilian aide-de-camp. Custis died of “camp fever” shortly after the British surrender. The “camp fever” was likely an epidemic of typhus or dysentery.
A week after Cornwallis’s surrender, Washington left for Mount Vernon and stayed there for a time to grieve the loss of his stepson. But alas, he had to leave for Philadelphia to plan with the civil administration the next steps of the Revolutionary War. He took Martha with him, because it was just too soon to leave her alone in her grief.
This personal grief colored Washington’s Christmas 1781, showing that the holiday was both a national and deeply personal experience.
So, despite the celebratory national mood, George and Martha Washington experienced a subdued and mournful Christmas, which they spent at dinner Robert Morris, a friend of the family, who was also the Superintendent of Finance and a delegate to the Second Continental Congress.
By the way, I highly recommend Robert Morris: Financier of the American Revolution. It’s a fascinating book by Charles Rappleye about the American Revolution. I read it many years ago and often revisit it for insight.
British Defeat – 1783 Christmas
On Christmas Eve George Washington, the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, made a powerful statement about the American Revolution – its purpose and future course. And consequently, he set the course of American history apart from nations in the past and nations since.
On December 24, 1783, Washington arrived in Mount Vernon – as a private citizen!
Relinquishing so much power was indeed a historic act. This was speculated about even beforehand. King George III commented that “If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.”
On Christmas Eve, Washington confirmed to American Patriots and the world that the American Revolution was about republicanism, and to ensure that, he would gladly give up power.
Aside from Washington’s grand statement, Christmas 1783 was a huge time of transitions for soldier veterans who were returning home and had to content with the financial, emotional and social effects of the Revolutionary War. On this history, Dr. Jake Ruddiman of Wake Forest University has written an insightful book Becoming Men of Some Consequence: Youth and Military Service in the Revolutionary War. If we interview him in our program, I’ll definitely link that conversation here.
A Note About French Influence
By 1783, French forces had been in America since at least July 1780. That’s when Comte de Rochambeau landed in Newport, Rhode Island. Over the course of the Revolutionary War, their numbers were considerable – around 12,000 French soldiers and 32,000 sailors. So, undoubtedly, they influenced American Christmas traditions.
The two things that I know of are their introduction of mince pies and bawdy French Christmas songs about court figures.
But I should note that American colonists generally disdained French cookery. This is even true about French Huguenots in South Carolina. For example, in this popular cookbook that was commonly used in the colonies, its author, Hannah Glasse, disparages French cooking, even though he includes French recipes in the book.
Discover more about America’s Christmas traditions in Parts II and III:
Backdrop to Christmas in America – my take on this history
Christmas and U.S. presidents: video and edited transcript of my in-depth interview with Dr. Carey Roberts
About the Featured Image
The featured image is Washington Crossing the Delaware by German-American artist Emanuel Leutze. Painted in 1851, it depicts George Washington leading the Continental Army across the Delaware River on the night of December 25–26, 1776.
The original painting was destroyed during World War II. One version is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, while another was later sold at auction in 2022 for $45 million.
So You Think You Know The American Revolution?
Test your Revolutionary knowledge bona fides against others in our YouTube Community.
Question:
Which event on Christmas 1773 demonstrated open colonial defiance against British policies?
Options:
A) Boston Tea Party
B) Ship Polly turned away from Philadelphia
C) Battle of Bunker Hill
D) Declaration of Independence
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Think You Know the American Revolution?
