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 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.
I had lost that piece when my hard drive crashed a while back. Thanks so much for posting it. I just sent it to an ‘e-mail’ list.
#301, excellent post IrishPennant, excellent. Food for thought people.
Your post made me cry! Our youth have no sense of this history. I have bought my children alot of books about the United States History. One which was recommended to me was, “American History Storeis You Never Read in School but Should Have” by Mara Pratt. It is a reprint of an 1889 school textbook that she found at a church book sale for $2.50. I just got it and have only read the introduction but now I plan on reading it this week. Quote from the introduction “Near the front door was a small sign that read, Rare Books. Pushed between two large books was one entitled simply:American History Stories. I chuckled under my breath, American History wasnt’t rare. I had many books on American History.....As I began to read the beautiful histories, tears filled my eyes. I had studied history from elementary school to the university but I had never read stories such as these. The morning sun found me finishing the last chapter. For the first time in my life I understood the glory that was America....”
There are two volumes and you can purchase them cheaply at www.rainbowresource.com Maybe we need to get these into the hands of every teen we come in contact with.
Bookmarking. Thanks for posting!