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Attorneys' Investigative Consultants |
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The Pledge of Allegiance |
| Yesterday at breakfast
my wife Ruth read the following to my grandson, Ryan. When she
finished we asked her where she got it and who wrote it. She
didn't recall where it came from and there was nothing on it to
indicate it's origin. She thought that perhaps she had gotten it
off the internet. But, she wasn't sure. It was in a notebook she
put together containing the Constitution of the United states and
the Declaration of Independence. I decided to publish it for
my PI colleagues on some private professional discussion
groups to which I belong and also here on this on this web
site. Then I hesitated, fearing that this might offend some of our
British colleagues with whom many of us enjoy very cordial
personal and professional relationships. After due consideration I
decided that that was nonsense. This is the story of 56 heroic
Britons who gave us our
liberty. July 3rd
2000 Alan M.
Kaplan |
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 there, 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 fought 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!
