Patriots and Neighbors: Pennsylvania Moravians in the American Revolution
The persecution of Moravians during the American Revolution had little to do with the Revolution. Although these persecutions were enabled by the revolutionary crisis and justified by invoking the Moravians’ refusal to bear arms or swear oaths to the state, the attacks on Moravians were actually new...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Penn State Univ. Press
2012
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| In: |
Journal of Moravian history
Year: 2012, Volume: 12, Issue: 2, Pages: 111-142 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The persecution of Moravians during the American Revolution had little to do with the Revolution. Although these persecutions were enabled by the revolutionary crisis and justified by invoking the Moravians’ refusal to bear arms or swear oaths to the state, the attacks on Moravians were actually new episodes in long-standing conflicts between neighbors. These neighbors seized the opportunity to realize ambitions that preexisted the revolutionary conflict—rooted in religious intolerance and a greed for land—to eradicate Moravian communities. But these neighbors, plebian patriots embodied in local militia units, pursued agendas that their “betters” never imagined, and elite patriots at the state and continental level repeatedly tried to protect Moravians. To understand this story we must look beyond Bethlehem. Bethlehem’s triumph, its success at preserving its principles and resisting its neighbors’ attacks, was not repeated elsewhere. In most Moravian communities the pressure from neighbors forced men to perform military service and swear the oath of allegiance. Church authorities denounced these activities, but these choices by individual church members helped preserve Moravian communities when “Cruel Neighbors” took advantage of the revolutionary crisis and [End Page 111] envisioned eradicating Moravians from what had been the peaceable kingdom of Pennsylvania. |
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| ISSN: | 2161-6310 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of Moravian history
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