The True Price of American Freedom (standard:Editorials, 585 words)
Author: J P St. Jullian	Added: Jul 23 2002	Views/Reads: 6449/0	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Whatever happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

THE TRUE PRICE OF AMERICAN FREEDOM 

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 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 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 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 I a free and independent America. The history books
never told us a lot of what happened in the revolutionary war. We 
didn't just fight the British. We were British subjects at that time, 
which placed us in the situation of being in revolt of and fighting our 
own government! Perhaps you can now see why our founding fathers had a 
hatred for standing armies, and allowed through the second amendment 
for everyone to be armed. 

These were men who didn't take freedom for granted.  They knew the
possible cost before signing that important document, and decided to 
take the responsibility for the freedom of a nation and sign anyway. 
Today we enjoy that freedom, but too many of us don't take proper 
responsibility for the freedom we have. 

Frankly, no American should be able to read this without crying, and I
say again, some of us take these liberties so much for granted. 

We shouldn't. 


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