4th of July Thoughts

Bob Taylor

Platinum Member
Joined
Dec 10, 1998
Messages
400
Here's a little something to think about this Fourth of July.

July 4th Message - 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 home 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. 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 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 me a free and independent America. The history books
never told you a lot of what happened in the Revolutionary War. We
didn't just fight the British. We were British subjects at that time
and we fought our own government!

Some of us take these liberties so much for granted...We shouldn't. So,
take a couple of minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and
silently thank these patriots. It's not much too ask for the price they
paid..............
Bob Taylor

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Some days it's not worth chewing through the restraints and escaping.
 
Thanks so much for this post. It is altogether too easy to take the sacrifices of those individuals for granted now 200+ years later.

This is the best post I've EVER read here.
 
Thanks for the quick history lesson, and reminder for those who died to make the USA.
We take everything for granted
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GOD BLESS AMERICA! I can't think of ANY other country I would have rather have grown up and live in! Damn proud to me an American
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I second that 'BEST' post, sharpsteel!

md2020

 
Here Here! To the best post ever posted anywhere. Sometimes its take a small gesture such as this to remind us of the prices paid by so many for our Freedom, and how easily we have come to take it for granted. While we are thanking those who lost all they had, including their lives, so that we may live in a free country, lets not forget to thank those who are defending our right to remain a free nation.

From my family and I, I salute all those who have paid the price for our freedom and those who have dedicated their lives to keeping it that way.

Jonathan
 
Bob, very interesting!!!I didn't know that...COOL....We do live in a great country! Lets all strive to keep it that way
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Thanks for the post Bob. Makes you think about some of the "Problems" we complain about today.
 
Bravo Bob! We`ve come so far since then that`s it`s all too easy to think of our founding fathers and their sacrifices as just a story and not ask ourselves if we would do the same in their shoes today. Every day the rights these men and countless others fought and sacrificed for are simply given away by well meaning idiots. In the words of Benjamin Franklin (to the best of my recollection) "Those who would sacrifice simple liberty for temporary security deserve neither." Amen. God bless America! Marcus
 
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