4th of July

Why the 4th of July? This is a good opportunity to reflect with your family just what it means to sacrifice for God.

We watch the fireworks and feel proud of our country. We somehow picture the Declaration of Independence being signed and our country magically became the United States of America. But that was not the case. Standing for what you believe in is not always an easy task. Men with families much like your own, risked everything for the freedoms we take for granted.

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

5 signers were captured by the British as traitors and tortured before they died. 12 had their homes ransacked and burned. 2 lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army, another had 2 sons captured. 9 of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They singed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

24 were lawyers and jurists. 11 were merchants, 9 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 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, troublemaking tough guys. 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 fortune and our sacred honor.”