What happened to the
56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?...
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and
tortured before they died.
Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.
Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army;
another had two sons
captured.
Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the
Revolutionary War.
They signed and they pledged their lives, their
fortunes, and their sacred honor.
What kind of men were
they?
Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine
were farmers and large plantation owners;
men of means, well
educated.
But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full
well
that the penalty would be death if they were captured.
Carter
Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the
seas by the British Navy.
He sold his home and properties to pay his debts,
and died in rags.
Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was
forced to move his family almost constantly.
He served in the Congress
without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from
him,
and poverty was his reward.
Vandals or soldiers looted the
properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer,
Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge,
and Middleton.
At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr, noted that
the British General Cornwallis had taken over the
Nelson home for his
headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home
was destroyed,
and Nelson died bankrupt.
Francis Lewis had his home
and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few
months.
John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying.
Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his
gristmill were
laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning
home to find his wife dead and
his children vanished. A few weeks later he
died from exhaustion and a broken heart.
Norris and Livingston suffered
similar fates. Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution.
These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men
of means and education.
They had security, but they valued liberty
more.
Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: "For the
support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the
protection of the
divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes,
and our sacred honor."
They gave you and me a free and independent
America. The history books never told you a lot about what happened
in the
Revolutionary War.
We didn't just fight the British. We were British
subjects and we fought our own government! Some of us take our liberties
for
granted, forgetting they were won by the "militia" against an overbearing
central government bent on robbing individuals
of basic rights to speech,
self-defense, and personal property.
Be sure to take a few minutes
while enjoying your 4th of July holiday to silently thank these patriots and
resolve never to
give away the freedoms they died to secure. It's not too
much to ask for the price they paid.
Remember:
freedom is never free.
Have a wonderful and safe 4th of July!
The Ben-e-lect News…Brief