- Title
- North Carolina historical review [1932 : January]
-
-
- Date
- January 1932
-
-
- Place
- ["North Carolina, United States"]
-
North Carolina historical review [1932 : January]
Hits:
(0)
























The North Carolina
Historical Review
Volume IX
January, 1932
Number 1
THE ATTITUDE OF THE NORTH CAROLINA
MORAVIANS TOWARD THE AMERICAN
REVOLUTION
By Ruth Blackwelder
It is not surprising that our Revolutionary forefathers failed to
sympathize with the stand of the Moravians against military service
since even today an alien who hesitates to swear “to defend” the coun¬
try is refused naturalization, despite the fact that many twentieth-cen¬
tury nations, the United States included, have outlawed war. The
attitude of the Moravians toward war was the result of long experi¬
ence. Centuries before coming to America, the Brethren had taken
up arms only to be crushed. They had seen that their numbers in¬
creased when they heroically suffered persecution, but that in battle
they were destroyed.
The Brethren Before 1763
It is not purposed to review the annals of the Unitas Fratrum,
now common! v known as the Moravian Church, but it is necessarv to
trace briefly the history of the origin and development of its anti¬
militaristic attitude.
Bohemia was the original home of the Brethren and Moravia has
often been called the twinland of their birth. The Slavonians must
have settled in Bohemia during the fifth century. Czech was their
legendary leader and they came to call themselves Czechs.
During the first five centuries of their history [the Czechs] were
devoted to the pursuits of peace; whenever they took up arms, it was
in self-defence. They tilled the ground, raised cattle, and opened an
extensive traffic with neighboring nations in grain and horses. Patient
industry distinguished them, and a tenaciousness which has become
proverbial.1
1 E. De Schweinitz, The History of the Church Known ae the Unitas Fratrum, p. 6.
Select what you would like to download. If choosing to download an image, please select the file format you wish to download.
The Original File option allows download of the source file (including any features or enhancements included in the original file) and may take several minutes.
Certain download types may have been restricted by the site administrator.