Sweet Land of Liberty: The Ordeal of the American Revolution in Northampton County, Pennsylvania [Hardcover]

Francis S. Fox (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2000

It is often said that the American Revolution was a conservative revolution, but in many parts of the British colonies the Revolution was anything but conservative. This book follows the Revolution in Pennsylvania's backcountry through the experiences of eighteen men and women who lived in Northampton County during these years of turmoil.
Fox's account will startle many readers for whom the Revolution symbolizes the high-minded pursuit of liberty. In 1774, Northampton County was the second largest of Pennsylvania's eleven counties, comprising more than 2,500 square miles, three towns (Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton), and some 15,000 people. When the Revolution broke out, militias took control. Frontier justice replaced the rule of law as zealous patriots preoccupied themselves not with fighting the British but with seizing local political power and persecuting their pacifist neighbors.
Sweet Land of Liberty reawakens the Revolution in Northampton County with sketches of men and women caught up in it. Seldom is this story told from the vantage point of common folks, let alone those in the backcountry. In Fox's hands, we see in these individuals an altogether more disturbing Revolution than we have ever reckoned with before.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A one-of-a-kind book, a miracle to be grateful for and to treasure. Fox gives us a new and altogether more disturbing Revolution than we have been accustomed to reckon with. Sweet Land of Liberty may forever change the way we think of our national origins. --Michael Zuckerman, University of Pennsylvania

To come once again at the question of the morality of the American Revolution but from [the] unfamiliar perspective . . . of the Northampton residents, whose story Francis Fox opens up for the first time in his path-breaking book is to be reminded of the moral complexities that extraordinary times brought to the lives of ordinary people. --Mark Noll, Books and Culture: A Christian Review

For their beliefs, Moravians and Mennonites forfeited the right to vote, suffered harassment and beatings from neighbors and militiamen, faced draconian fines for their religious objections, and finally, watched as the judicial system confiscated their property and sold it at auction. In relating these moments, Fox artfully captures the pain and hypocrisy that existed on the darker side of liberty s war. --Terry Bouton, William and Mary Quarterly

From the Publisher

A unique approach to the American Revolution viewing it through the eyes of 18 men and women who lived in one frontier county of Pennsylvania.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 212 pages
• Publisher: Pennsylvania State Univ Pr (Txt) (November 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0271020628
• ISBN-13: 978-0271020624
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,813,603 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History we all should learn, January 11, 2008

By 

B. Merz (Columbus, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sweet Land of Liberty: The Ordeal of the American Revolution in Northampton County, Pennsylvania (Hardcover)

Sweet Land of Liberty is a fascinating book that brings out facts that we never learned in history class. Not everyone supported the American Revolution, and there might have been good reasons why they didn't. We believe that this book should be made into a documentary film. In researching our family tree, we believe that some of ancestors were among the Northampton County families caught up in the situations described in this book. I recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the Revolutionary War or German genealogy of Pennsylvania.

Brenda Merz

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fills a niche.., March 2, 2006

By 

Barnes and Noble Junkie (Barnes And Noble, Midlothian, Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sweet Land of Liberty: The Ordeal of the American Revolution in Northampton County, Pennsylvania (Hardcover)

Having been born and raised in Northampton County I was pleasantly surprised to come across this book. I ordered it on-line, so I didn't really know what to expect.

While I did enjoy this book, I don't know if I could really recommend to anyone whose is neither from Northampton County (or Eastern PA), nor a Revolutionary War buff.

Don't get me wrong, the book is not bad. It is well written and very thoroughly researched, with over 40 pages of notes. Fox brings to light many interesting facts including the boundary dispute between the states of Conn and PA, and the fact that a signer of the Declaration of Independence is buried in Easton but the overall reading experience is hurt by two major flaws.

The first one is the lack of maps. There is one, and it isn't very detailed. Having lived there, I knew the locations that Fox was writing about, however, most readers won't have a clue.

But more glaring was the layout of the book. THe book is divided into 15 chapters, each of which tells the story of 1 or 2 individuals and either the impact that the Revoltionary War had on them, or the impact that they had on Northampton County during the war. This in itself isn't bad, but the problem with doing this is that given the relatively short period of time that Fox is writing about, many of these people's lives intertwine.

The reader therefore is forced to read and reread about the call to arms to prevent the British form marching on Philadelphia. Robert Levers, the subject of Chapter 1, pops up all over the book, and the reader is repeatedly reminded that he was Northampton County prothonotary.

In addition Fox refers again and again to the fact that the Militia and Test Acts were misused by County Officials confiscate property from Moravians, Schwenkfelders, and ultimately Mennonites, as again many of the main characters in these events were featured in their own chapter.

The stories that Fox tells are interesting, but the reader would have been better served had Fox written this more like a novel and chronologically connected all of the individuals who he wanted to make heard. This woudl have really helped the flow of the book

Again this is not a bad book, its just that few people besides Colonial Era history buffs or County residents are going to really be interested.

5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting, April 16, 2011

By 

Kahuna - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sweet Land of Liberty: The Ordeal of the American Revolution in Northampton County, Pennsylvania (Hardcover)

This book is a fascinating look into the life of "everyday" people during the Rev War years in the Lehigh Valley, PA. It is a great addition to the library of this amateur historian and genealogist in eastern PA.