Our 56 brave men who signed the Declaration of Independence . . .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 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!
The Fourth of July. Independence Day. It brings to mind fireworks, sparklers, family barbecues, picnics and baseball. All of these are good things, but is this what the Fourth of July is really all about? What would our Founding Fathers think about present-day society and how we celebrate their achievement?
"Eric," a Colorado Springs, Colo., resident, thinks the Founders would be shocked and astonished by how far we have strayed from what they fought to obtain.
"I think (the Founding Fathers) would think that we have abused the rights they achieved for us. (Today), there is a lack of responsibility to the rights we have been given," Eric said.
"Greg," also from Colorado Springs, believes we have misconstrued the original intent of the Founding Fathers.
"I think that they would roll (over) in their graves to see how we have perverted the original intent of what they tried to do," he said.
Today it seems that the "independence" we celebrate has changed drastically from the original intentions of our Founders. David Barton, president and founder of WallBuilders, an Aledo, Texas-based ministry which educates Christians on the Godly heritage of our nation, thinks that the Founders would go "ballistic" over how much liberty and religious freedom we have given up. He also thinks we have also lost sight of what the Fourth of July is really about.
"The fact is that over that last 60 years or so we've got the Fourth all wrong," Barton said. "We teach in our textbooks right now that the Fourth of July occurred because our Founders objected to 'taxation without representation'…that's wrong," Barton said. "(The Declaration of Independence has) got 27 reasons why the founders separated from Great Britain. 'Taxation without Representation' was reason number 17 out of the 27."
Barton said that the Declaration of Independence shows us in the present day where we are going astray. It's not all about economics, it's about God.
"One lesson from the Declaration is (the Founding Fathers') four-time acknowledgement of God; the fact that they cited the abuse of judges trying to run their society four times more often than they cited economics," Barton said. "I think we have seen that kind of judicial usurpation just in the last few weeks, with the courts having taken control of morality and having taken control of whether we can have a basic biblical morality."
Barton said the celebration of the first Independence Day was declared a religious holiday. John Adams, one of our Founders, said the Fourth should be celebrated by "solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty."
So how can we make this Independence Day more of a celebration of our freedom, and not just a day off? Barton gives us a very important suggestion:
"First thing they can do is make sure they stop and thank God for the fact that we have our freedoms, that we have our liberties. As Thomas Jefferson said, can the liberties of a nation be thought secure if we've lost a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift of God. At some point during the day there has got to be a celebration and thankfulness to God for what we have in our liberties," Barton said.
He added that reading the Declaration and taking time to remember those who have sacrificed much for the sake of our freedom are good ideas as well.
"The Fourth of July was used as a time to look back at the sacrifices of those who gave us our liberties and so it's a good time to get on the Web and look at the sacrifices of the 56 (signers of the Declaration of Independence)," Barton said. "Look at the fact that nine of these guys did not live to see the freedom they wanted us to have, that 17 of them lost every worldly possession they had in keeping their word, that three of them lost their kids, two of them lost their wives. We can look at those sacrifices and recall what it costs us today to preserve what they have given us."
In the meantime, "Tom" and his family, are going to do just that.
"On the Fourth of July, my son will recite from memory the Declaration of Independence for his grandparents because his grandfather served in World War II as a bomber pilot in Germany and then we will also read the account of the signers and the trials they encountered for signing the Declaration," Tom said.
In the end, that is the message behind Independence Day: Let us remember that it took a lot of sacrifice and courage to obtain the freedoms we have in this country.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
To learn more about the Declaration of Independence and to view a full transcript of the document, please see the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration Web site.To learn more about our Godly heritage we recommend the video "American's Godly Heritage" by David Barton of WallBuilders.
Information about WallBuilders is available on the organization's Web site.
From my email..it takes time to load, will bring tears NEVER FORGET
And Freepers too 8-)
Happy Independence Day, y'all !!
Philadelphia, July 5, 1776.Yesterday the greatest question was decided which was ever decided among men. A Resolution was passed unanimously -- "THAT THESE UNITED STATES ARE, AND OF RIGHT OUGHT TO BE, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES." The day is past. The 4th of July, 1776, will be a MEMORABLE EPOCHA in the history of America. I am apt to believe it will be celebrated by succeeding generations, as the GREAT ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL! It ought to be commemorated as the DAY OF DELIVERANCE, by solemn acts of devotion to Almighty God--It ought to be solemnized with pomp, shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward forever! You will think me transported with enthusiasm; but I am not. I am well aware of the toil, and blood, and treasure it will cost to maintain this DECLARATION, and support and defend these States; yet through all the gloom, I can see a ray of light and glory. I can see that the end is worth more than all the means; and that posterity will triumph, although you and I may rue, which I hope we shall not.
Yours, &c.,
JOHN ADAMS.
It ought to be commemorated as the DAY OF DELIVERANCE, by solemn acts of devotion to Almighty God--It ought to be solemnized with pomp, shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward forever!
Now all you folks get out there and party solemnize! :-)
Just one question to ponder this holiday: Look at the abuses cited in the Declaration of Independence, then ask yourself, "How independent am I today?"
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redrock
