The Declaration of Independence bears the signatures of 56 men.\u00a0 Many of their names have become world-famous, including 2 American presidents, multiple governors, ambassadors and state leaders.\u00a0 But for an unlucky few, things turned out quite differently…<\/p>\n
Only six weeks after the signing, two members of the New York delegation were caught in the line of fire. \u00a0Francis Lewis of Manhattan had been a successful shipping agent who used all his wealth to buy a retirement farm on Long Island. \u00a0But in the first major battle of the war, at Brooklyn Heights, the British destroyed it all. \u00a0His wife was captured and she died a few months later. \u00a0His compatriot, Lewis Morris, suffered a similar fate only days later, when the British swept north and destroyed Morris\u2019 Harlem farm and home. \u00a0Though both Lewis and Morris survived the war, neither financially recovered.<\/p>\n
Two New Jerseyans were next. \u00a0As the British entered the Hopewell Valley, John Hart was forced into hiding, leaving his dying wife behind.\u00a0 His fellow signer Richard Stockton abandoned his Princeton home with his family, but he was captured and imprisoned. \u00a0When Hart returned to his farm, his wife had died. \u00a0Later, in 1778, Hart volunteered his property to house over 12,000 American troops. \u00a0The resulting damage and stress proved too much for him and he died a year later.\u00a0 Stockton, meanwhile, was freed after the battle of Princeton, but he also never recovered, and died a pauper in 1781.<\/p>\n
Carter Braxton of Virginia was perhaps the most generous signer.\u00a0 He loaned 10,000 pounds to the government at the war\u2019s outset, and throughout the war supported American shipping. \u00a0As the war came south, his plantations were overrun by the British. \u00a0Braxton was ruined and forced to sell his family home. \u00a0He lived in a modest row house in Richmond until his death in 1786.<\/p>\n
The suffering continued right to the end, when for one signer the war literally came home. \u00a0Thomas Nelson, Jr. was Commander in Chief of the Virginia Militia. \u00a0As the Americans reached Yorktown, they found that British General Cornwallis had taken up residence in Nelson\u2019s own house and that of his uncle Thomas Nelson, Sr. Undeterred, Nelson opened fire, destroying his uncle\u2019s home and severely damaging his own.\u00a0 The climax of the American Revolution is marked by one of the Founding Fathers voluntarily setting his heritage ablaze.<\/p>\n
These men never enjoyed the fruits of their sacrifice.\u00a0 Nor are they well-remembered by the people of the nation they created. \u00a0But they are perhaps the best examples of dedication to the oath that all 56 men took together: \u00a0\u201cFor the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Declaration of Independence bears the signatures of 56 men.\u00a0 Many of their names have become world-famous, including 2 American presidents, multiple governors, ambassadors and state leaders.\u00a0 But for an unlucky few, things turned out quite differently… Only six weeks after the signing, two members of the New York delegation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[216,332,454,665,733,1036,1243],"class_list":["post-626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-4","tag-carter-braxton","tag-declaration-of-independence","tag-francis-lewis","tag-john-hart","tag-lewis-morris","tag-richard-stockton","tag-thomas-nelson"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}