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, 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.

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!

Please see snopes.com for The Rest of the Story re: Libra Lady’s cut and paste post.

It was years ago in California that I became a community organizer.  We had a graffiti problem our neighborhood so I made calls, found out I could get some leftover paint, and even applied for a grant to start a neighborhood association that would cover thousands of homes.  I published a neighborhood newsletter every two months, and organized dozens of volunteer block captains who handed them out door to door.

The only snag we hit was when the city grant representatives, an older Japanese fellow, and a young white woman, attended our first official meeting.  I told them I had handed out about 250 invitations door to door, and had about 20 people show up.   They were very impressed with our organization, our vision, our goals, our analysis of community challenges, and our step by step plan for dealing with those challenges.  In fact, it was one of the best groups they’d ever seen.  There was just one problem:  We didn’t have any minorities show up, so we weren’t going to get the grant.  

I proceed to explain that on my court alone there was a Hispanic family, a Japanese family, my next door neighbors were Vietnamese immigrants, and our closest friends were the Philipino family living kiddie-corner from us. All these people had received flyers, and yet the only person from the cul-de-sac that showed up was the retired white guy.  Maybe he was the one with the most time to volunteer, I suggested.  I couldn’t force people to come to our meetings.  

Well that didn’t sit well with the young white woman, and she told me so.  That’s when the older Japanese fellow, bless his heart, just laid into her and pointed out how important it was to encourage anyone coming forward willing to take the time to improve the community, and that she was being completely absurd and counterproductive in her assessment. (Government being absurd and counterproductive?  Who knew?)  

I know I felt humiliated and angry that we had gone through so much effort,  only to be told to our faces, that we were the wrong race! Funny that they didn’t mention that in the grant application.

So we were awarded the grant, and the neighborhood association is thriving 15 years later.  Although I left the area years ago, the traditions we established live on.   

In our house we affirm our freedom daily by being as eccentric and ecclectic as we want to be! We do things our way, no matter how funky or peculiar it may be. From the freedom of vegetarianism to the freedom of tattoos, we enjoy what others have worked to give us. We do our part by being politically active for the causes we believe in!

I am still fighting for my freedom. As women we are not truely free in this country. Untill the ERA passes (remember that), there is no true freedom. All it takes is for the majority to take a hard right (as we have seen is possible from the last 20 years), and we could very well lose all that we have fought for, one little law at a time. I graduated high school in 1976 and I remember the rude locker notes, the name calling, and just plain old high school abuse for anyone that supported abortion or any other women’s issues. Remember how we women were all stealing for the boys after Title IX? I was turned away from vocational training, because I would be taking a boy’s position and he was going to have a family to support, I wouldn’t have those worrys. We haven’t gotten there yet, ladies. Please, do not fool yourselves into thinking that you have the same freedom as the guy on the bus next to you. Ask the woman looking to get her tubes tied after 4 kids, but she needs her husband’s permission. Not all of it is about abortion; just basic human rights for everyone, not just MAN.

I went to college, got that education and paid for it on my own. I wouldn’t even take the PEL grants because I wanted the education to be mine; not something the male government deemed that I could have. Now I fight for medical marijuana laws. I am disabled and supporting my daughter and I on SSDI. I am very blessed that that education gave me the working income so that I always ended up paying the max on towards my Social Sercurity benefits, leaving me with the max benefits when I became disabled at 40. This allows us to live just above the income line needed for any other type of government assistance, ie, HUD, school lunchs, state health insurance (<18yo daughter is uninsured, I have Medicare). Sure glad I wasn’t going to need any voc training from the public school system.

Keep up the good fight when you see it, ladies. I just pray that my daughter’s children, don’t grow up remember living under laws that kept women from living their lives totally and truely free.

As an Americanborn  daughter of immigrants who escaped pogroms, spent 3 years trying to gain entry in the 1920s, and as someone who has traveled worldwide, I honor my personal freedom every day, for I know that as a woman, I could not have my quality of life anywhere else, and that includes  modern countries, as well as those who keep their women poorly educated and poorly protected.

And as an older, retired, and educated woman, where could I live independently, without having to conform  to the rules of others? I worked, reared my family, voted, can walk alone wherever I wish, and make my own decisions—and I know that this country has issues which have adversely affected many, including my family and me; my sense of history is detailed and long, but today,I feel grateful to be here.