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Why do Americans not celebrate Guy Fawkes Night?
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Houses of Parliament, London, England.
Guy Fawkes Night, or Bonfire Night, has been celebrated in England and much of the British Commonwealth since 1605, but it is not observed in the United States.
The event celebrates the failure of the Gunpowder Plot on November 5, 1605, in which Catholics conspired to blow up the Houses of Parliament, the seat of governing power in England, at a time when the Protestant King, James I, would be there for the opening, thereby killing the king and the leaders of his government. People who have watched the movies and heard the tales of the famous Henry VIII who separated with the Catholic Church over getting a divorce from his first wife may not realize the ramifications of that story. King Henry separated his nation and formed the beginnings of the Church of England, which became Protestant, and formed a rift between Catholics and the Protestants that has lasted to this day. The bloody wars and terrorist activities have a long history, all the way back in this case to 1605 and earlier.
People sometimes compare this holiday to the Fourth of July, as both are nights for fireworks, but Independence Day celebrates the happy result of freedom for the colonies. Bonfire Night celebrates the night that Guy Fawkes, only one of thirteen conspirators, but the one who was caught with the match and the gunpowder, acted his part of the story of continuing religious oppression. The gruesome traditional bonfire was often topped with a stuffed set of clothes which was the Guy, burned in effigy, which is a reminder of the fact that such burnings were part of the history of punishment. Effigies of the Pope were sometimes used. Children would wander around, pulling a stuffed Guy in a wagon, asking any and all they met for “a penny for the guy,” so they could buy fireworks. Anything wooden or burnable such as furniture, fence posts, or any item that was not firmly secured would be collected to build the fire. Potatoes were baked along the edges of the fire.
In the early years of the colonies, the events of 1605 were recent history, and colonists continued to observe the date. However, as the colonists began their revolt against the king, and there were people who had joined the cause in order to get religious freedom, this hardly seemed an appropriate event to celebrate in America. The colonists were philosophically more on the side of the conspirators than the king and his government. George Washington explained to his army that at a time they were trying to get the support of Canadians and the French, this celebration of the failure of a plot against the king would be totally inappropriate.
So children in America did not grow up reciting the following rhyme.
Remember, remember the fifth of November,
The gunpowder, treason and plot,
I know of no reason
Why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, ’twas his intent
To blow up the King and Parliament.
Three score barrels of powder below,
Poor old England to overthrow;
By God’s providence he was catch’d
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, make the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!
Hip hip hoorah!
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