> HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!
> Let us celebrate our independence and freedom in
> Christ!
>
> 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 Continental
> 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 other, 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 thank God for the sacrifice of these patriots.
> Remember freedom is never
> free!
>
> It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.
> Stand firm, then, and do not
> let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of
> slavery. Galatians 5:1
>
>
>
>
> Jeff Reynolds
>
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mendingthenets
>
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/preacherjeffspastorfellowship
>
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/preacherjeffsmusicianfellowship
>
> "To the law and to the testimony. If they do not
> speak according to this
> word, it is because there is no light in them."
> Isaiah 8:20
>
> "The last thing I want to do is upset those who love
> the truth. The first
> thing I want to do is upset those who don't." John
> F. MacArthur, Jr., from
> Grace To You.
>
>
>
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