ES - A bit out of period but....

[Russell, Michael]

This is completely out of period but deserves a look at.

 REMEMBERING INDEPENDENCE DAY
 
 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 homes 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 about what happened in the Revolutionary War. We
 didn't fight just the British. We were British subjects at that time and
 we fougnt our own government!
 
 Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't.
 So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and
 silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they
 paid.
 
 Remember: freedom is never free!
 


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