Moravians in the Revolution Lecture

Join Historic Trappe in hosting Scott Paul Gordon as he talks about the Moravian community during the Revolution. The American Revolution put Pennsylvania’s Moravians in a tough place. They wanted to remain neutral, but Patriots demanded that they choose a side and threatened to seize all their property if they didn’t. When military forces—troops on the move, prisoners, injured soldiers—occupied Bethlehem (“engulfed” the small community, Bethlehem’s leader John Ettwein said), Moravians had no choice but to transform the way they lived. These communities did survive these dangerous times. But, as this talk will explore, the Revolution transformed Bethlehem permanently.