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The Price They Paid
(Author Unknown)
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 in
the Revolutionary Army, another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56
fought and died from wounds or the hardships of the Revolutionary War.
They signed and pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred
honor.
What kind of men where 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 his 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 Congress without pay, and
his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him and
poverty was his reward.
Vandals or soldiers, or both, looted the properties of Ellery,
Clymer, Hall, 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. The owner
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 grist mill 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 are 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 the 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 us a free and independent America.
What will you do to keep it ?
Lance
R Crowe, Chairman,
American Constitutional Campaign Committee.
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