In the United States we celebrate Independence Day by having picnics, playing with friends, parades and watching fireworks when night falls. We often forget that it is much more than that. This is the day that is thought of as the day our forefathers signed the Declaration of Independence and made us a free people; it actually happened over a few months, as the men showed up to sign it, but on this day we celebrate it.

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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, at great cost to themselves! Some of us take these liberties so much for granted...We shouldn't.

So, take a couple of minutes and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.


God Bless the United States of America!

M4C

Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of the sheeple would rather be alive than free.
Poor dumb Bastards.[:(][:(][:(]

ColtShorty

GOA KABA COA JPFO SAF NRA

"I won't be wronged,  I won't be insulted
and I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do
these things to other people and I require
the same from them."

[img]http://www.standandfight.com/img/tshirts/large/Come_Get_Some.jpg[/img]

I've read these stories so many times, but I've always wondered "Why did their fellow citizens permit so many of these heros to die 'in rags' 'penniless' 'bankrupt'?"

Surely there were ways to avoid this final insult to these Patriots?

Eric The Hun[>]:)]