In the fall of 1775, Gen. George Washington was commanding the Continental Army as it besieged the British military in Boston, and also planning an invasion of Canada. He hoped that Catholic French Canadians would join the American forces in throwing out their British governors. When he learned of how the New Englanders who made up most of his troops planned to observe the 5th of November, Washington issued these orders:
“As the Commander in Chief has been apprized of a design form’d for the observance of that ridiculous and childish custom of burning the Effigy of the pope—He cannot help expressing his surprise that there should be Officers and Soldiers in this army so void of common sense, as not to see the impropriety of such a step at this Juncture; at a Time when we are solliciting, and have really obtain’d, the friendship and alliance of the people of Canada, whom we ought to consider as Brethren embarked in the same Cause. The defence of the general Liberty of America:
“At such a juncture, and in such Circumstances, to be insulting their Religion, is so monstrous, as not to be suffered or excused; indeed instead of offering the most remote insult, it is our duty to address public thanks to these our Brethren, as to them we are so much indebted for every late happy Success over the common Enemy in Canada.”
That invasion turned out to be a failure. Bostonians went back to celebrating Pope Night in 1776. Even though the 5th of November celebrated the preservation of king and Parliament, two British institutions that Massachusetts had broken away from that July, the appeal of the holiday was too strong to ignore.
However, the next year brought news that France, a Catholic country, would send troops and ships to support the new U.S. of A. Once again, having a raucous anti-Catholic procession became politically awkward, and town leaders insisted that the young men forgo their festivity.
That was not quite the end of Pope Night in America, however. Some of its rituals survived in new forms.
(the following is from _http://display.5thofnovember.us/2007/10/burning-benedict-arnold-instead.html)
After Gen. Benedict Arnold defected to the British in 1780, he became America’s most unpopular man. On September 30, Philadelphians created a procession that appears to have adopted many symbols from the 5th of November: a wagon carrying a large lantern and effigies, including a devil and Arnold himself; a parade of noisy boys and young men; and a bonfire at the end of the day. Compare this engraving from Philadelphia to the earlier pictures of “Pope-Night” in Boston.
Arnold was depicted as having two faces and carrying a mask, details to symbolize his duplicity. He was not hanged in effigy, but two nooses on the lantern signaled the crowds’ wish to see him executed for treason.
Philadelphia was not the only American city that carted around an effigy of Arnold. After Arnold led a British raid on New London, Connecticut, on September 6, 1781, town magistrates tried to change Pope Night into a new patriotic holiday: “they suggested to the populace the substitution of Arnold for the Pope, and the 6th of September for the 5th of November.”
For a few years, the youth of New London chanted a new song:
“Don’t you remember, the 6th of September,
When Arnold burnt the town,
He took the buildings one by one,
And burnt them to the ground,
And burnt them to the ground.
“And here you see these crooked sticks,
For him to stand upon,
And when we take him down from them,
We’ll burn him to the ground,
We’ll burn him to the ground.
“Hark! my little bell goes chink! chink! chink!
Give me some money to buy me some drink.
We’ll take him down and cut off his head,
And then we’ll say the traitor is dead,
And burn him to the ground,
And burn him to the ground.”
This movie so clearly shows just what will happen when the Dominionists take over that it is very sobering.
