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 Continental Army; another had two sons captured. Nine
of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary
War.
They had pledged their lives,
their fortunes, and their sacred honor. And they meant it!
What kind of men were they?
Twenty-four were lawyers
and jurists. Eleven were merchants. Nine were farmers and large
plantation owners. They were men of means, and well educated.
Yet
they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well 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
fight just the British. We were British subjects at that time, and
we fought our own government!
Some of us take these liberties
so much for granted, but we shouldn't. So, take a few minutes while
enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots.
It's not much to ask for the price they paid.
Remember freedom is never
free! It's time we get the word out that patriotism is not a sin,
and the Fourth of July has more to it than beer, picnics, and baseball
games."
After the signing of July
4, 1776, many of the signers did indeed lose their homes, their life savings,
and even their lives -- often after being sadistically tortured by the
British!