Art News

1775 public notice known as a "broadside": Colonists asked pacifists to pay

LITITZ, PA (AP).- In a fledgling nation hungry for men to fight in the American Revolution, conscientious objectors were frequently greeted with scorn and their loyalty was questioned. As war approached, leaders in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County sought to ease tensions by urging the growing number of German immigrants with religious objections to war to demonstrate their patriotism by giving as much money as they could afford to the revolutionary cause. The proposition is spelled out in a July 11, 1775, public notice known as a “broadside,” which is on display at the Moravian Archives & Museum here. Experts recently confirmed it as the only known English-language copy. Lancaster played an important role