EDITOR'S NOTE: This is part of our recurring series: Lehigh Valley 250th — a project that examines our region's place and contributions in American history leading up to the nation's 250th anniversary next year.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — This is part one of an interview with Prof. Scott Gordon of Lehigh University. Gordon is a professor of English and a scholar of the Colonial and post-Colonial history of the Lehigh Valley. He recently spoke with WLVR’s Brad Klein about the role the Moravians played in the American Revolution.
In part one, Gordon gives a brief history of the Protestant group that went on to found the present-day city of Bethlehem. He said that at the time of the American Revolution, the Moravians had shown very little interest in the politics of the time. But their prominent settlement in the Lehigh Valley made it impossible to avoid secular involvement in the revolution.
The Moravians would end up playing a role housing and treating colonial soldiers, and supplying the Continental Army with supplies, including the weapons they needed to wage war against the British.
Listen to the interview by using the audio player above.