The Price They Paid - A 4th of July Story

I've read this before and recently received this again in an email and I thought I'd share this today in honor of the men who paid so much so we can enjoy the freedoms we enjoy today.....freedoms that we will quickly lose if we don't stay on our toes and stand up against the declining morals and values and speak up for the freedoms in our great country. 

I wonder if we would be willing to pay such a price as these men paid? 

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, Rutledge, 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.



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!




“A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have.” - Thomas Jefferson



"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance." 
Psalm 33:12