The Birth of the United States of America
The Declaration of Independence gave birth to what is known today as the United States of America.
July 4th, 1776, a balmy day in Philadelphia, is the day the Declaration of Independence is being signed by fifty-six great men.
The tension of the moment is combined with a complete certainty that the future of our country depends on what is about to take place. Gentle but passionate men fill the room with profound and palpable high principles, allowing no compromise.
A room of independent thinkers gather for one Cause: Freedom.
Never has a truer group of kindred spirits existed in all of history.
The moment has come. A sacred instrument reverently passes from hand to hand. One great man after another gazes into the fierce, loving and loyal eyes of his predecessor as each receives the quill to make their mark upon history.There are no words that can be put to the looks passing from one true patriot to another.
The protesting cries of the oppressor is felt across the vast ocean, fearing, on this day, we have won.
An unconditional stand for personal integrity and the integrity of all generations to come, these great men set the precedent of Freedom for all people, for all nations, for all time. It is the singular day that marked a new era for Mankind.
The Declaration of Independence states that everyone has certain “unalienable Rights:Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The pursuit of happiness is the right to build your own life as you see fit – to live your dream.
An unalienable right is something that cannot be taken away by a government or another legal power.
We owe a great debt and it is our calling as Americans to fulfill that debt by ensuring our Founding Father’s efforts were not in vain by being willing to fight for our basic rights, without compromise.
Our Founding Fathers made a deeply courageous stand to ensure our human rights over two centuries ago. Our gratitude to them is overwhelming. This legacy is now passed to each one of us to uphold everything this country truly stands for. It is our only guarantee that freedom will prevail, always.
Here is what some of them sacrificed to ensure our freedom:
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This story comes from http://www.self-gov.org/liberator/
When the 56 Signers of The Declaration of Independence attached their signatures to that document, each knew they were committing treason against the British Crown. If caught and captured, they risked death. Our Founding Fathers valued freedom, for themselves and their posterity, to the extent that they found this fate worth the risk.
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.”
The story below tells what happened to the men who signed the Declaration of Independence.
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.
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The cruelty our Founding Fathers suffered was the sacrifice they made on our behalf.
After more than two centuries, our Star-Spangled banner still waves for the land of the free, and the home of the brave, because of them.
Be fiercely proud to be a part of this glorious nation and the fundamental beliefs it was founded upon. Thank our predecessors for their courage in the face of overwhelming odds.
Patriotism is not an option. It is our salvation.
Heaven shines down on America and its people.
Jeanne Powers
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