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72 lines
3.1 KiB
Plaintext
72 lines
3.1 KiB
Plaintext
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THE PRICE THEY PAID
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Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the
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Declaration of Independence?
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Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured
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before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two
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lost their sons in the revolutionary army, another had two sons
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captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships
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of the revolutionary war.
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They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their
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sacred honor.
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What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.
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Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation
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owners, men of means, well educated. But they signed the
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Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty
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would be death if they were captured.
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Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his
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ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and
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properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.
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Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to
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move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress
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without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions
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were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.
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Vandals or soldiers or both, looted the properties of Ellery,
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Clymer, Hall, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.
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At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr., noted that the
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British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his
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headquarters. The owner quietly urged General George Washington to
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open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.
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Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy
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jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.
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John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying.
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Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his
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gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in
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forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his
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children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a
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broken heart. Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.
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Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution.
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These were not wild eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were
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soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they
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valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they
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pledged: "For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance
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on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to
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each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
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Targetshooter's notes:
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They gave you and I a free and independent America. The history
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books never told you a lot of what happened in the revolutionary
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war. We didn't just fight the British. We were British subjects at
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that time and we fought our own government! Perhaps you can now see
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why our founding fathers had a hatred for standing armies, and
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allowed through the second amendment for everyone to be armed.
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Frankly, I can't read this without crying. Some of us take these
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liberties so much for granted.
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We shouldn't.
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Peace my friends,
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Garry Hildreth
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(Targetshooter)
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Erie, Pa
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