Local diaries from the 1830s and 1840s suggest that Christmas in Jacksonville was less about gift-giving and more about hospitality. Neighbors visited each other, exchanged modest homemade presents, and celebrated with roasted meats, cornbread, and pies. Fireworks, a tradition imported from both Spanish and Caribbean influences, occasionally lit the night skies.
Slavery, however, shaped much of Jacksonville’s antebellum Christmas. Enslaved African Americans were often granted temporary respite from labor during the holiday, allowing them to gather, play music, and preserve cultural traditions. Plantation owners sometimes used Christmas as a means of asserting paternalism, offering gifts or feasts while reinforcing social hierarchies.
Civil War and a Divided Holiday
The Civil War profoundly affected Jacksonville’s Christmas traditions. Occupied several times by Union forces, the city experienced both hardship and moments of festivity. Soldiers, far from home, improvised holiday celebrations with limited supplies. Letters from Union troops describe decorating small pine branches with hardtack and ribbons, while Confederate families in Jacksonville, facing shortages, turned to simple homemade gifts and prayers for peace.
African American communities, experiencing newfound freedoms after emancipation, began to reframe Christmas as a time of spiritual renewal. The post-war years saw the growth of African American churches that placed Christmas at the center of community life, featuring choirs, pageants, and gospel celebrations. shutdown123