Posted on 10/01/2004 11:27:00 AM PDT by Getsmart64
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. 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 fougnt 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!!
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your comprehension skills suck. The link I provided was one recursion back that provided the definition of "glurge."
Quit wasting my time.
The only thing that "sucks" is the snopes article, and your uncritical acceptance of it.
If that's how you live with your ignorance, you go right on telling yourself that, kid.
Now how did I know, that despite all your prostestation about how important your time is, that you won't be able to resist the temptation spent more of that precisous time just so you can get the last word in.
I think I've successful made my case for any objective 3rd party, and when I say I won't be wasting my time with you any more, I mean it.
When I was a child, my father had an LP recording of a speech by Tom Andersen, a John Bircher of some renown. The speech was entitled "I See A Cat", and this little ditty was part of that speech, almost word for word. I was 10 years old in 1964, and I believe the speech was current at that time.There was much talk of LBJ, Hubert Humphrey, and their "rubber stamp Congress." There was a lot of talk of the danger of MLK,Jr. Andersen was a pretty good speaker and mixed jokes with politics and Christian ethics. Some of the record I can still remember word for word, even as I have just turned 50.
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