Signers of the Declaration of Independence
What do we know about the
56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence? They were well-spoken men of
means, education, and financial security that valued their country’s liberty…believing
in a cause far beyond themselves. Each declared, "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." And that… they did!
Here are the tragic stories
of some of our country’s first and finest heroes who signed the Declaration of
Independence against Great Britain, knowing full well that their fate was the
penalty of death, if captured.
Among the first to sign
had been John Hancock, who wrote in big, bold script so George III
"could read my name without spectacles and could now double his reward for
500 pounds for my head." (I now understand why his signature stands out
among the rest!)
Five signers were
captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had
their homes ransacked and burned. Nine of the fifty-six fought and died from
wounds or hardships resulting from the Revolutionary War. Twenty-four were
lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants. Nine were farmers and large
plantation owners.
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 McKean 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 or
both, looted the properties of William Ellery,
George Clymer, Lyman Hall, George Walton, Button Gwinnett, Thomas Heyward, Jr.,
Edward Rutledge, and Arthur Middleton.
Thomas Nelson, Jr.’s
home was destroyed during the Battle of Yorktown and he died bankrupt.
Francis Lewis's Long
Island home was looted and gutted, his home and properties destroyed. His wife
was thrown into a damp dark prison cell without a bed. Health ruined, Mrs.
Lewis soon died from the effects of the confinement. The Lewis's son would later
die in British captivity.
"Honest John" Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she lay dying, when
British and Hessian troops invaded New Jersey just months after he signed the
Declaration. Their thirteen children fled for their lives, as his fields and grist
mill were laid to waste. All winter and for more than a year, Hart lived in
forests and caves, finally returning home to find his wife dead, his children
vanished and his farm destroyed. Rebuilding proved too be too great a task. By
the spring of 1779, John Hart was dead from exhaustion and a broken heart.
Robert Morris, Jr.
suffered similar fate.
New Jersey's Richard Stockton, after rescuing his
wife and children from advancing British troops, was betrayed by a loyalist,
imprisoned, beaten and nearly starved. He returned an invalid to find his home
gutted, and his library and papers burned. He never recovered, dying in 1781 a
broken man.
William Ellery of
Rhode Island, who marveled that he had seen only "undaunted
resolution" in the faces of his co-signers, also had his home burned.
Only days after Lewis Morris of New York signed the
Declaration, British troops ravaged his 2,000-acre estate, butchered his cattle
and drove his family off the land.
When the British seized
the New York houses of the wealthy Philip
Livingston, he sold off everything else and gave the money to the
Revolution. He died in 1778.
Arthur Middleton, Edward Rutledge and Thomas Heyward
Jr. went home to South Carolina. In the British invasion of the South,
Heyward was wounded and all three were captured. As he rotted on a prison ship
in St. Augustine, Heyward's plantation was raided, buildings burned, and his
wife, who witnessed it all, died. Other Southern signers suffered the same
general fate.
May we always remember
these brave and honorable men, and the price they paid for our independence. It
did not come free or easy, but was a life sacrifice for the greater good of
future generations of Americans. We must teach our children this all-important
history. It is the fabric of our lives,
the roots of our country, and the legacy that propels us to guard and cherish
our freedom.
Note: George Washington did not
sign the Declaration of Independence.
He was a member of the FIRST Continental Congress, was elected as a
member of the SECOND Continental Congress but because he was already in the
field with the army during the Revolution, he did not sign.
Contrary
to common belief, all those who signed the Declaration were not in the
Philadelphia Hall together. Signers floated in and out and signed the document
when they got around to it over a period of days. By July 4th, 1776, John
Hancock decided that he had enough signatures, and made the document public. (Excerpts from
www.whatreallyhappened.com)
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