The history books of today don’t tell the whole story of what took place leading to and during the Revolutionary War.
The colonists didn't just fight the British; they were British subjects in a state of siege. The repression of their rights and liberties had been growing for many years. The colonists were actually in a state of war for two years prior to the signing of the copy of the Declaration of Independence; they fought their own government at that time for independence!
The events leading to the decision to declare independence are well delineated in the Declaration of Independence, drafted as a bill of particulars and reasons.
For over 20 years prior to the Declaration, the British Parliament passed and enforce a series of excessive taxation and navigation measures that could think were calculated to arouse to the highest spirit of resistance in America.
By King’s order, the stationing of British troops in Boston in 1768, to aid in the enforcement of the Townshend Acts was viewed by many as an violent act of oppression. On March 5, 1770, the irritated colonists ridiculed the "red-coats" to the level of "snow-balling" a British sentry. This led to a riot, which ended in costing the lives of several colonials.
Among them was the Negro, Crispus Attucks, who was considered the first person to die in the long battle for independence and freedom.
Samuel Adams of Massachusetts established the Committees of Safety and Committees of Correspondence among the colonies that slowly began to work. When the royal governor of Virginia dissolved the House of Burgesses, the Colonists independent representation before the king, in June, 1774, the members met unofficially to adopt a resolution calling upon all the colonies to send delegates to a Continental Congress to meet in Philadelphia in September.
September 5, 1774, The First Continental Congress began their sessions in Philadelphia, with the attendance of 56 delegates representing every colony but Georgia.
Independence was a hotly debated issue with a plan for compromise that was proposed by Joseph Galloway of Pennsylvania narrowly defeated by one single vote of adoption.
Fifty-six men, appointed by their fellow citizens of each Colony, meeting in Congress assembled, decided on the only logical course of action by which they could remove the yoke of tyranny by declaring the independence and sovereignty of the individual colonies.
By the authority of the good people of the colonies, these fifty-six men signed the original Copy of the Declaration of Independence, mutually pledging to each other their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor.
Seldom, however, do people wonder what happened to those fifty-six men who signed the Declaration of Independence.
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors to the King and tortured brutally before they died. Twelve others had their homes ransacked and burned to the ground. Two lost their sons while fighting in the Revolutionary War; another had two of his sons captured. Nine of the fifty-six fought and died from wounds while fighting in the war.
What kind of men were they?
Twenty-four of the signers were lawyers and jurists. Eleven of them were merchants; nine others were farmers and large plantation owners. They were all men of means and well educated.
They signed the Declaration of Independence with the understanding that the penalty would be death if they were captured.
Carter Braxton, a wealthy planter and trader from Virginia, watched his ships destroyed by the British navy. His losses forced him to sell his home and his property to pay his debts; he died in rags.
The British hounded Thomas McKean so much that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in Congress without pay, while his family was kept in hiding. He lost all of his possessions and lived a life of poverty as his reward.
The properties of Ellery, Clymer, Hall, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton were looted by vandals and soldiers.
Thomas Nelson, Jr. wrote that the British General Cornwallis had taken over his home for the Headquarters at the Siege of Yorktown. Nelson quietly urged General George Washington to open fire destroying his home. Nelson died bankrupt.
Francis Lewis also had his home and properties destroyed and the British jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.
New Jersey’s John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their thirteen children fled for their lives as his fields and gristmill were laid to waste. John Hart lived in forests and caves for over a year before returning home to find his wife dead and his children gone. He died within weeks heartbroken and exhausted.
Lewis Morris and Philip Livingston also suffered similar fates.
These are only a few of the stories of the sacrifices of the American Revolution. These 56 men were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians; rather they were soft spoken men of means and education, yet, they valued liberty more.
"For the support of this declaration, with the firm reliance on the protection of the Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
Through their sacrifices, they gave us a free and independent America.
We invite you to read a transcription of the complete text of the Declaration of Independence.
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