Growing up in the American Northeast in the 1960's my family would frequently drive to one of the early so-called big box type department stores thriving on the nearby highway. Many times these trips occured after Sunday dinner. This was still a time when certain rules applied and only parts of the stores were available for shopping; the rest of the store was roped off. This was the long legacy of Sabbath beliefs that dated back to the early Puritans. 

The Sabbath was all important in every phase of American life. During the election of 1844, for example, President John Quincy Adams, seeking reelection, was branded as a "Sabbath breaker" by the opposition. In 1877, Rutherford B. Hayes did not take the oath of office on the Sabbath even through Grant's term had ended at midnight, so the nation spent one full day without a president. 

Following is an article from September 29, 2008 (Suite101) by M.Streich, copyright explaining the role of the Sabbath in Colonial America.

 

During the highly charged presidential election of 1828, supporters of Andrew Jackson labeled John Quincy Adams a “Sabbath breaker.” Keeping the Sabbath was part of religious tradition and expectations since the founding of the colonies and would not change until Irish and German immigration redefined the role of Sunday in American culture. So important was Sunday church attendance that, in the earliest days of the Virginia colony, a newly arrived governor, Sir Thomas Dale, called for repeated church absences to be subject to capital punishment. Keeping the Sabbath in colonial America was a key feature of religious practice, regardless of the particular denomination enforcing the rule.

 

Early Sabbath Practices

 

In Puritan New England, the Sabbath began Saturday evening. The earliest places of worship were homes or crudely constructed meeting houses. Even as these primitive churches were rebuilt in later years, Calvinist New England frowned upon church adornment, unlike the Anglican Churches in the Virginia colony.

 

The Old North Church in Boston, famously identified with the midnight ride of Paul Revere, is an example of how colonial churches came to identify Sabbath worship with social classes. Rather than pews set in rows, the church contained rectangular boxes, each one the private domain of families that had paid for the seating.

 

The same held true in Virginia churches. Families, including servants and slaves, filled these private boxes, bringing blankets and foot warmers in  colder months. In New England, it was not uncommon for sermons to last several hours and required church attendance extended to afternoon services. Commenting on the social configuration of church seating, Henry Wiencek writes that “In Washington’s Virginia, family determined one’s place and one’s identity, even in relation to the Creator.”

 

In 1954 Great Britain’s Queen Mother visited the Bruton Parish Church in Colonial Williamsburg. According to historian Richard Fried, when asked if she wished to join in prayer in the pew once used by royal governors, she asked if George Washington had owned a pew and replied, “I would prefer to kneel there.” Pews were sold well into the 19^th century.

 

Religion professor Ronald White relates that when President Lincoln arrived in Washington in 1861, the First Presbyterian Church offered the new president a pew without charging the customary rental fee. Lincoln, however, declined, attending instead the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church paying $50 a year for a pew.

 

The Penalties of Sabbath Breaking or Service Disturbances

 

Although Governor Dale’s suggest of capital offense was never acted upon, penalties for neglecting Sabbath services were severe. In Virginia, offenders were usually fined, the proceeds going to the churches charged with financial support of orphans and widows. Repeated offenses invited public flogging or the pillory.

 

Parishioners were summoned on the Sabbath by the ringing of bells, beating of drums, or the sound of a trumpet. Lay church leaders scoured the communities, making sure everyone that wasn’t sick was at church. In Virginia, for example, it didn’t matter whether a person was a member of the Church of England. Attendance was still required.

 

The Sabbath also banned any activities considered profane, such as hunting, sporting, dancing, or doing non-essential work. The Sabbath was “the Lord’s Day,” and any activity that was deemed inappropriate was an offense against God. In New England and Dutch New Amsterdam, also a Calvinist community, these rules were far more stringent and more rigidly enforced.

 

Modern Vestiges of the Sabbath Laws

 

Many states still retain elements of Sunday prohibitions traced to Sabbath practices that are often called “blue laws.” In some states, no alcoholic beverages may be purchased on Sunday and liquor stores are closed.

 

Fundamentalist denominations still promote a “Lord’s Day” free of work and devoted to family worship and fellowship. As long as personal religion is important to Americans, these considerations will be honored and kept.

 

Sources:

 

Alice Morse Earle, Home Life in Colonial Days (Stockbridge, MA: The Berkshire Traveller Press, 1974) [book was first published in 1898]

Dale Taylor, The Writer’s Guide to Everyday Life in Colonial America From 1607-1783 (Cincinnati: Writer’s Digest Books, 1997)

Henry Wiencek, An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003)