Christmas in the American Civil War
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Christmas (1861–1865) was celebrated in the Confederate States of America (the South), but frowned upon and actually fined in Massachusetts. It was seen as an unnecessary expense. It was thought to be a day of fasting by the Puritans and Lutherans. The day did not become an official holiday until five years after the war ended. The war continued to rage on Christmas and skirmishes occurred throughout the countryside. Celebrations for both troops and civilians saw significant alteration. Propagandists, such as Thomas Nast, used wartime Christmases to reflect their beliefs. In 1870, Christmas became an official Federal holiday when President Ulysses S. Grant made it so in an attempt to unite north and south.