Have you ever wondered 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. Then 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 of what happened in the Revolutionary War.
We didn't just fight 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...We shouldn't.
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