JULY 4TH REMINDER!  The price they paid.
Have you ever wondered what happened to those men who signed the Declaration of Independence?
Five signers were captured as traitors by the British, and were tortured to death.  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 hardshiiiips of the Revolutionary War.
What kind of men were they?  Twenty-four were lawyers. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantations owners - men of well means and 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, 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 McKean 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.  Poverty was his reward.
Vandals, soldiers, or both looted many of their homes.  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 grist mill were laid waste.  For more than a year he lived in forest and caves, returning home after the war to find his wife dead and his children had vanished.  He died from exhaustion and a broken heart.
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 a firm reliance on the protection of the Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our fortunes and our sacred honor."
THE GAVE US AN INDEPENDENT AMERICAN.  LET US KEEKP IT!