Editing Lehigh County, Pennsylvania (section)

===American Revolution===
{{See also|Liberty Bell}}
{{Further|Pennsylvania in the American Revolution}}
Some of the first resistance to [[British colonization of the Americas|British colonialism]], which led ultimately to the [[American Revolutionary War]], began in present-day Lehigh County. On December 21, 1774, [[Patriot (American Revolution)|patriots]] in the area formed one of the [[Thirteen Colonies|colonies]]' first [[Committee of safety (American Revolution)|Committee of Observations]]. Following the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]], patriot militas pressured [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Tories]] out of Allentown and the surrounding area, and the [[Crown colony|colonial government]] in the area began to break down.

After [[George Washington|Washington]] and the [[Continental Army]] were defeated at the [[Battle of Brandywine]] on September 11, 1777, the revolutionary capital of [[Philadelphia]] was left defenseless and [[Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania's Supreme Executive Council]] ordered that eleven Philadelphia bells, including the [[Liberty Bell]] (then known as the State House Bell), be taken down and moved to present day Allentown (then called Northampton Towne) and hidden in the basement of [[High German Evangelical Reformed Church|Zion Reformed Church]] on present day West [[Hamilton Street]] to protect them from being melted down by the [[British Army during the American Revolutionary War|British Army]] for use as munitions.