The Price Paid by the Signers

What Hardships Did They Endure?

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 in the Revolutionary Army, another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or the 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 or both, looted the properties of Ellery, Clymer, Hall, 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. The owner 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 thirteen children fled for their lives. His fields and his grist mill were laid 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 of the 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 a firm reliance on the protection of the Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”

The War these men supported began on Lexington Green when their fellow citizens resisted British troops who had been sent to confiscate their guns. The “shot heard around the world” was fired by farmers and townsmen, not against taxes or against physical oppression, but against an attempt by the existing government to disarm them. Our fore-fathers knew that without arms they would be helpless to resist any further oppression which might arise in their own government.God blessed their resistance and gave them freedom. We would do well to remember Lexington Green. -- Sheldon Emry

That liberty is now in peril. How does this come to be?






Is there anyone on the political scene today
who understands, and who has the wisdom and knowledge to restore the republic, for which such a price was paid?

Glad you asked! As a matter of fact, there is a such a party. And it has a plan to accomplish this objective.

The Constitution Party is the largest and fastest growing minor party and has been gathering momentum since its founding in 1992. That year its standard bearer, Howard Phillips, was on the ballot in more than 20 states. In 1996 he was on the ballot in more than 30 states. In 2000 he was on the ballot in more than 40 states, and with write-ins was an option in 48 states. The 2008 standard bearer was Chuck Baldwin. The goal of the Party is to limit the federal government to the functions delegated to it by the Constitution and to restore American jurisprudence to its original Biblical common-law foundations, in short, to restore the republic, for which such a price was paid.

Over the years, especially in the 20th Century, and now even more in the 21st, our Constitution has been rendered almost meaningless while our government has become unaccountable.
See how that has been playing out in ways that affect you, and how we can restore accountability.

It is the responsibility of the sovereign citizens to hold our servants accountable -- to be the keepers of the gates. If we don't, who will? Many have paid with their blood for our freedom. Surely we must honor their sacrifice with our vigilance.

This article is a sample of articles gathered from three centuries, contained in ...

The Treasury,
which is bound with ...

Remarkable Remedy
-- by Jean Carpenter

Remarkable Remedy is the second edition of what the late Peggy Poor, Editor of “The Upright Ostrich,” hailed as “the best primer for people to understand” how our predicament came about. Find out how we lost government accountability, and how it can be restored.