Ironic Liberty

My research this week has reminded me that one of the greatest ironies during the American Revolution was the fact that some of those who were most adamant about securing American “liberty” were responsible for trampling over the freedoms of their fellow colonists. I am referring to the contests that erupted in Pennsylvania, particularly in Northampton County, between radical patriots and members of various Peace Churches who attempted to remain neutral or refused to take up arms against the king. Mennonites, Moravians, and Brethren (among others) were imprisoned, humiliated, fined and impoverished for refusing to be drawn into an armed conflict that they did not feel could be reconciled with their Christian faith. Local patriots attempted to coerce these individuals into militias against their will. Mennonites and others responded with calls for “freedom of conscience,” obviously sensing the irony of the situation. This thread runs through Francis S. Fox’s, Sweet Land of Liberty: The Ordeal of the American Revolution in Northampton County, Pennsylvania. Check it out sometime!