IP: The Fourth of July: More than Fireworks and Cook-outs

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

From:  James P. Martin


jpmartin () korrnet org (permanent e-mail address)




      The Fourth of July: More than Fireworks and Cook-Outs






      The Fourth of July is one of the most significant holidays in
      American history. It was on that day, in 1776, that the 13
      American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain.
      Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence, one of
      the greatest documents in the long struggle of mankind for
      freedom from oppressive  government.






      The Declaration contained these words that made it more than just
      another political document:


         "We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are
         created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with
     certain unalienable
      rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of
      happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are
      instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent
      of the governed; that, whenever any form of government becomes
      destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter
      or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its
      foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such
      form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety
      and happiness."




     The ideas in the Declaration were not new. Indeed, they had been
      expressed by British thinkers such as John Locke, and similar
      sentiments had been used in Britain to justify rebellion against
      King James II in 1688. But Jefferson's words struck a chord
      across America, and across the world; they still reverberate
      today.


         Fifty-six American leaders in the Continental Congress stepped
         forward to sign the final document, at enormous personal
      risk.








      Tragically, many Americans today have no idea of the great
      sacrifices that were made by the Founders to win their freedom.




      The story below tells what happened to the men who signed the
      Declaration of Independence. The author's name, as far as I know,
      is lost.


      * * *




      What Happened to the Signers?




      Five signers were captured by the British and brutally tortured
      as traitors. Nine fought in the War for Independence and died
      from wounds or from hardships they suffered. Two lost their sons
      in the Continental Army. Another two had sons captured. At least
      a dozen of the fifty-six had their homes pillaged and burned.




      What kind of men were they? Twenty-five were lawyers or jurists.
      Eleven were merchants. Nine were farmers or large plantation
      owners.  One was a teacher, one a musician, and one a printer.
      These were men of means and education, yet they signed the
      Declaration of Independence, knowing full well that the penalty
      could be death if they were captured.




      In the face of the advancing British Army, the Continental
      Congress fled from Philadelphia to Baltimore on December 12,
      1776. It was an especially anxious time for John Hancock, the
      President, as his wife had just given birth to a baby girl. Due
      to the complications stemming from the trip to Baltimore, the
      child lived only a few months.




      William Ellery's signing at the risk of his fortune proved only
      too realistic. In December 1776, during three days of British
      occupation of Newport, Rhode Island, Ellery's house was burned,
      and all his property destroyed.






      Richard Stockton, a New Jersey State Supreme Court Justice, had
      rushed back to his estate near Princeton after signing the
      Declaration of Independence to find that his wife and children
      were living like refugees with friends. They had been betrayed by
      a Tory sympathizer who also revealed Stockton's own whereabouts.
      British troops pulled him from his bed one night, beat him and
      threw him in jail where he almost starved to death. When he was
      finally released, he went home to find his estate had been
      looted, his possessions burned, and his horses stolen. Judge
      Stockton had been so badly treated in prison that his health was
      ruined and he died before the war's end. His surviving family had
      to live the remainder of their lives off charity.




      Carter Braxton was a wealthy planter and trader. One by one his
      ships were captured by the British navy. He loaned a large sum of
      money to the American cause; it was never paid back. He was
      forced to sell his plantations and mortgage his other properties
      to pay his debts.




      Thomas McKean was so hounded by the British that he had to move
      his family almost constantly. He served in the Continental
      Congress without pay, and kept his family in hiding.




      Vandals or soldiers or both looted the properties of Clymer,
      Hall, Harrison, Hopkinson and Livingston. Seventeen lost
      everything they owned.




      Thomas Heyward, Jr., Edward Rutledge and Arthur Middleton, all of
      South Carolina, were captured by the British during the
      Charleston Campaign in 1780. They were kept in dungeons at the
      St. Augustine Prison until exchanged a year later.




      At the Battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr. noted that the
      British General Cornwallis had taken over the family home for his
      headquarters. Nelson urged General George Washington to open fire
      on his own home. This was done, and the home was destroyed.
      Nelson later died bankrupt.








      Francis Lewis also had his home and properties destroyed. The
      British jailed his wife for two months, and that and other
      hardships from the war so affected her health that she died only
      two years later.




      "Honest John" Hart, a New Jersey farmer, was driven from his
      wife's bedside when she was near death. Their thirteen children
      fled for their lives. Hart's fields and his grist mill were laid
      waste. For over a year he eluded capture by hiding in nearby
      forests. He never knew where his bed would be the next night and
      often slept in caves.  When he finally returned home, he found
      that his wife had died, his children disappeared, and his farm
      and stock were completely destroyed. Hart himself died in 1779
      without ever seeing any of his family again.




      Such were the stories and sacrifices typical of those who risked
      everything to sign the Declaration of Independence. These men
      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 lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."