Post #232 Merry 4th!

The signers of the Declaration of Independence showed courage -- by putting their names on a document that repudiated their own government, they had every reason to believe at the time that they might well be hanged for having done so. We should honor that.

I got a stirring "Fwd" e-mail that told of the hardships some of the signers endured. Unfortunately, the e-mail was full of 'embellishments,' politely speaking.

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

Five signers were captured by the British.

Four were captured during battle and served time as a prisoner of war. George Walton was captured after being wounded while commanding militia at the Battle of Savannah in December 1778, and Thomas Heyward, Jr., Arthur Middleton, and Edward Rutledge -- three of the four signers from South Carolina -- were taken prisoner at the Siege of Charleston in May 1780. All four men were eventually released.

Only one signer -- Richard Stockton of New Jersey -- was taken prisoner specifically because he signed the Declaration of Independence. He was able to get a pardon and his release from imprisonment by disavowing his signature on the Declaration and signing an oath of allegiance to King George III.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned -- as did thousands of other colonists who lived in the war zone.

One lost his son serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. John Witherspoon of New Jersey had his eldest son, James, killed in the Battle of Germantown in October 1777. Abraham Clark of New Jersey had two of his sons captured.

Nine died during course of the Revolutionary War. Eight died of natural causes, and Button Gwinnett of Georgia died of wounds received in duel in May 1777.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. Men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty could be death if they were captured.

But no one was hanged, tortured or died in poverty -- as all the signers were able to recover at least some of their fortune. To 'embellish' the hardships of the signers diminishes the courage and sacrifices to support the revolutionary cause by people whose names are not immortalized on a piece of parchment.

Let's honor them all.

If you'd like to know more about the e-mail I got:

http://snopes.com/history/american/pricepaid.asp