Founders of Freedom, What they Gave, Declaration of IndependenceEducation on our Freedoms from the Founders and Patriots of the Declarationof Independence

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The Declaration of Independence....

"Signed by order and in behalf of the Congress.

JOHN HANCOCK, President.
Attested, Charles Tomson, Secretary.

New Hampshire:

Josiah Bartiett.
William Whipple.
Matthew Thornton.

Massachusetts Bay:

Samuel Adams.
John Adams.
Robert Treat Paine.
Elbridge Gerry.

Rhode Island, Etc.:

Stephen Hopkins.
William Ellery.

Connecticut:

Roger Sherman.
Samuel Huntington.
William Williams.
Oliver Wolcott.

New York:

William Floyd.
Philip Livingston.
Francis Lewis.
Lewis Morris.

New Jersey:

Richard Stockton.
John Witherspoon.
Francis Hopkinson.
John Hart.
Abraham Clark.

Delaware:

Caesar Rodney.
George Read.
Thomas McKean.

Pennsylvania:

Robert Morris.
Renjamin Rush.
Benjamin Franklin. John Morton. George Clymer. James Smith. George Taylor. James Wilson. George Ross.

Maryland:

Samuel Chase.
William Paca.
Thomas Stone.
Charles Carroll of
Carrollton.

Virginia:

George Wythe.
Richard Henry Lee.
Thomas Jefferson.
Benjamin Harrison.
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee.
Carter Braxton.

North Carolina:

William Hooper.
Joseph Hewes.
John Penn.

South Carolina:

Edward Rutledge.
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Ir.
Arthur Middleton.

Georgia:

Button Gwinnett.
Lyman Hall.
George Walton.

[Founders]

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 theirsons 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 hisships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home andproperties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKean was so hounded by the British that he was forced tomove his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress withoutpay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were takenfrom 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.

Lewis Morris and Philip 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: "Forthe support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection ofdivine 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. The history book never told you a lot about what happened in the Revolutionary War. We didn't fight just the British. We were British subjects at that timeand we fought our own government!

Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't. So, take a few minutes this year while enjoying your 4th of July holiday andsilently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price theypaid. 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.

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