On this day two hundred and 44 years ago, 56 leaders from the 13 American colonies signed and published a simple document declaring the colonies to no longer be British possessions, but rather, independent sovereign states. These were not radical, wild eyed revolutionaries; they were lawyers, farmers, merchants – men of stature in their communities. They had worked within the system for years to redress grievances, to no avail. Breaking away from the Crown was their last option.
We can most assuredly know that these men had thoughtfully, prayerfully weighed their options and considered all the risks that they were taking. Signing that declaration brought them up against the single most powerful man in the world at that time. Each one of the signers knew that with their signature they had crossed the line and become “out lawed” in the original sense of the word – no longer protected by any of the King’s laws. They risked everything for their belief that men should be free to govern themselves.
I am taking the liberty of sharing this with you, Faithful Readers. It comes from michealwsmith.com web site. I have heard both Paul Harvey and Rush Limbaugh read this on their radio shows.
This is the Price They Paid
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 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 McKean 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 or both, looted the properties of Ellery, Clymer, Hall, 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. The owner 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.”
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Many of them lost their lives and their fortunes – none of them lost their honor. This declaration was the first step in forming the most amazing nation that the world has ever seen; a nation founded to protect God given liberties. Enjoy the sun, the cookouts, the fireworks, but sometime over this holiday weekend give some thought to sacrifice and honor and what it should mean to Americans.
