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Dennis L. White
Senior Member
since 2000-02-17
Posts 1463
Michigan, U.S.A.

0 posted 2000-07-01 11:01 AM


A dear friend sent me this and I thought it should be shared in this forum.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM!
  
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.
  
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,
Heyward, Gwinnett, 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.
  
Norris and 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: "For the support of
this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine
providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and
our sacred honor." They gave you and I a free and independent America.
  
The history books never told us a lot about what happened in the
Revolutionary War. We didn't fight just the British. We were British
subjects at that time and we fought our own government!
  
Some of us take these liberties for granted, but we shouldn't. 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!

[This message has been edited by Dennis L. White (edited 07-01-2000).]

© Copyright 2000 Dennis L. White - All Rights Reserved
Poet deVine
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-26
Posts 22612
Hurricane Alley
1 posted 2000-07-01 11:35 AM


I also got this in my email...what about a challenge..use the phrase 'freedom is not free' in a poem!!!  
Dennis L. White
Senior Member
since 2000-02-17
Posts 1463
Michigan, U.S.A.
2 posted 2000-07-01 11:47 AM


Dear PoetDV,
  Sorry, I guess I was just caught up in the holiday mood, But yes, I'll accept that challenge! Here it is: Freedom' Never Free (Senyru)

Birth of our Nation
Great Sacrifice, Blood Purchase
Freedom's Never Free!

I hope this satisfied the challenge.

  Dennis :^)

[This message has been edited by Dennis L. White (edited 07-01-2000).]

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