Posted on 08/27/2009 4:52:26 AM PDT by vanilla swirl
What happened to the signers of 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.
As we read this article in light of the recent passing of Teddy, a question that comes to my mind. What actual sacrifices has the “Liberal Lion of the Senate” ever made in his life for anyone else, much less his country? I’m not talking about getting a bill into law to force other people to pay for things, I’m talking about personal sacrifices that he himself made?
I picked up a good used copy of “Greatness to Spare” by T. R. Ferenbach, that covers all the signers of the Declaration. Sobering, inspirational, and amazingly timely. I highly recommend it.
very good point...i wonder how many other than 1 that we know went thru hell for his country would take a stand as the original 56 did....i dare say none....
I am confused about the purpose of this article. Is it intended to show the signers as hero’s or to frighten people from standing up to the government in modern times? If it is the ladder, it will have no effect.
Thus, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of [patriots] and tyrants”
Freedom is far from free.
Does that count?
I think the article is meant to show what our founding fathers sacrificed in order to secure the blessings of liberty and freedom for all of us. We know about the Jeffersons, Franklins and Adams. Yet, we don’t know about the nameless other signers. They were leading men of their day and sacrificed everything for what they believed in.
Bump
Yess.
All this talk, talk, talk about what is wrong with the "Administration". Does anybody have the guts that the signers had?
Yes.
You may have seen this before but here it is again;Yes, but I, for one, appreciate the refresher.
Bookmark
He also scrificed his soul supporting the *rights* of pro-choice women.
No, it's purpose is to show that freedom isn't free. If you're willing to tolerate the "status quo" until the next election (or the one after that . . . or the one after that . . . ), assuming that there WILL be a "next election", then this post is not for you.
Our founders literally put their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor on the line for a free America. Are we willing to do the same???
I, for one, most assuredly am. As a younger man, I represented my country fighting for other people's freedom and could have cared less. I would willing sacrifice my life to free my own people (Americans) from the marxist tyrants currently in charge of this country.
“I’m talking about personal sacrifices that he himself made?”
He got his clothes wet one time?
Thanks for reminder!
The phrase “our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor” keep running through my head.
Many of our present “representatives” consider themselves an elite, and consider any interaction with the “peons” they are supposed to serve as an objectionable and degrading distraction from social engineering, pocket-lining and strengthening the “governing class” at the expense of the rest of us - who pay for it.
I have never seen such a disconnect between the people and their government in my lifetime.
Sacred honor? I see very, very little of it in Washington.
Either our representatives can wake up, of find something much more useful to do for a living.
As Donald Trump has said, “you’re fired!”
“He sacrificed what would of normally been a slender build for the sake of gluttony/alcoholism.”
He sold his birthright for a mess of pottage.
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