THE FOURTH OF JULY AND
THE SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
Have you ever wondered what happened to the fifty-six men who signed the Declaration of Independence? They were not wild-eyed radicals. They were dedicated mean of means and education.
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 fifty-six 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. Nelson 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 thirteen 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.
Strangely, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the only Catholic signer and cousin of Bishop John Carroll, was among the very wealthiest in the colonies. He was active in the political struggles of the day and later held Maryland and U.S. public offices. Though he lost his fortune in those disturbing times, he lived to recover it and became one of the founders of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Carroll outlived all the other signers, and died in 1832.
The signers of the Declaration of Independence valued freedom and God’s will more than their properties and more than they valued their own lives. Standing tall and unwavering, they pledged for the support of this declaration, a firm reliance on the protection of the Divine Providence of Almighty God. These are the persons who laid the foundations of our nation.
Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't. So, take a few minutes while enjoying your Fourth of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.
Remember: freedom is never free! It's time we get the word out that patriotism is not a sin, and the Fourth of July has more to it than beer, picnics, and baseball games.
God bless America!
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