Editorial: Celebrating Our Independence

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This coming Monday is Independence Day, or the Fourth of July as it is more commonly referred to. It celebrates the day in 1776 when the Continental Congress approved of the Declaration of Independence. From that summer day forward, the 13 colonies, which primarily made up the East Coast from Massachusetts to Georgia, began their journey to becoming a self-governing nation and the first states of the United States.

Today, 240 years later, we celebrate this monumental feat with barbeques, fireworks and the day off from work. This is much different from what our forefathers, the original signers of the Declaration of Independence, would have done. It is easy to forget why we actually celebrate Independence Day. We do not give much thought to what had to happen throughout the colonies, and even to the original signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Every year a friend of ours sends round an email encouraging us to be thoughtful about the men who signed the Declaration of Independence. He reminds of the strength in character it must have taken to sign such a document. We want to share it in part with you this weekend. We do not know its origin. It is readily available on the Internet, and so we cannot ensure its accuracy completely, but it has certainly become part of the legend of what happened to these 56 brave men:

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 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 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 talk 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.”

This weekend as you attend barbeques and enjoy one another’s company, say a silent “thank you” to those brave men whose sacrifice helped a nation be born. Happy Independence Day from our family to yours.

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