A friend sent this to me in my e mail. I thought I'd share it with you.
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 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 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. 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.
So,
take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday
and
silently
thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they
paid.
Remember: freedom is never free!
I hope you will show your
support by sending this to as many
people
as you can, please. 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.
squabwithfibro
