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The Founders

I'm sure this has been posted on here before and I'm sure it will be posted on numerous other sites, but I have always liked this. It reminds us of the sacrifice that has been made to insure freedom. Just remember freedom isn't free. May our colors continue to wave over this land.

Have you ever wondered what happened to those 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.


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.


They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.


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, which was done. 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 grist mill were laid waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home after the war to find his wife dead, 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. There 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."


They gave us an independent America. Can we keep it?
 
Very sobering to see what these men had to face after they made their stand. It is a sad commentary to see what we have for leadership now in comparison.
 
Great stuff and thanks for posting.

It does give context to our lives today. So maybe it will come to mind the next time a boss is difficult, the car breaks down, a child has issues at school or there is friction in your marriage.

Today, we don't KNOW hardship. We think hardship is when the price of gas goes up or we can't get a bigger flat screen to replace the flat screen we already have.

We have it mighty good and can thank The Founders for it.
 
No matter what I have done in my life I know I can never pay the debt I owe to my country.
I have never heard an American refer to America as the Fatherland or the Motherland.
We live in America, our home, the USA.
We don't think, or act like any others on this planet. For good or bad...I am an AMERICAN !
 
There is nothing wrong with celebrating your victory over the English, but let's not get carried away.
You ALL think and act just like everyone else on this planet. This includes the quaint notion that you are in some way special because of the language you speak, culture you are a tiny part of, ruler you bow down to, or flag you salute.
The only thing special about America is a huge cache of resources, a relatively empty continent to colonise and an OCEAN on either side of you keeping you safe.
Get a grip.
 
There is nothing wrong with celebrating your victory over the English, but let's not get carried away.
You ALL think and act just like everyone else on this planet. This includes the quaint notion that you are in some way special because of the language you speak, culture you are a tiny part of, ruler you bow down to, or flag you salute.
The only thing special about America is a huge cache of resources, a relatively empty continent to colonise and an OCEAN on either side of you keeping you safe.
Get a grip.

What? Was that some sort of preemptive strike? No one even said anything!

Anyway, yeah, the Founding Fathers seemed like some pretty cool bros. I'd party with them.
 
There is nothing wrong with celebrating your victory over the English, but let's not get carried away.
You ALL think and act just like everyone else on this planet. This includes the quaint notion that you are in some way special because of the language you speak, culture you are a tiny part of, ruler you bow down to, or flag you salute.
The only thing special about America is a huge cache of resources, a relatively empty continent to colonise and an OCEAN on either side of you keeping you safe.
Get a grip.

Well that's pretty crass. Why begrudge us celebrating our nations "birthday?" Loosing the war to a bunch of upstart colonials doesn't still smart, does it?

What's more, if that is truly all you know about America, your ignorance is appalling.
 
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There is nothing wrong with celebrating your victory over the English, but let's not get carried away.
You ALL think and act just like everyone else on this planet. This includes the quaint notion that you are in some way special because of the language you speak, culture you are a tiny part of, ruler you bow down to, or flag you salute.
The only thing special about America is a huge cache of resources, a relatively empty continent to colonise and an OCEAN on either side of you keeping you safe.
Get a grip.
It's not about victory over England that we are celebrating. The 4th is not VE day(Victory in Europe) It's the day we decided to become the UNITED STATES of AMERICA.
ENGLAND did not want us to become this....So we fought a war. We call it the REVOLUTIONARY WAR . The REVOLUTION was an idea, an idea so radical to the world.
The idea that no man was greater than another. No King, QUEEN,Emperor....Just the People....We the People.....It was revolutionary.
No, we are not celebrating winning a war. We are celebrating being AMERICA. And we are different....Well, maybe not everybody, but I am.
And I'm damn proud to be an AMERICAN. Not better than others, just different. That's a good thing in my book.
 
There is nothing wrong with celebrating your victory over the English, but let's not get carried away.
You ALL think and act just like everyone else on this planet. This includes the quaint notion that you are in some way special because of the language you speak, culture you are a tiny part of, ruler you bow down to, or flag you salute.
The only thing special about America is a huge cache of resources, a relatively empty continent to colonise and an OCEAN on either side of you keeping you safe.
Get a grip.

Americans tend to be tied so tightly to a nearly religious narrative about the nation that most could never get a grip.
 
Perhaps we Americans are idealistic. However if not for the United States all of Europe would be speaking German.

Your argument doesn't follow.... Not least of which is because of your final statement is incorrect. The US is not the reason Europe is not speaking German. The reason Europe does not speak German is because the Soviet Union defeated Germany. The Soviets were the ones that caused nearly 80% of German combat casualties and they were the ones that stormed into Berlin to kill Hitler and destroy the German government.

If you want to say the US is the reason Europe doesn't speak Russian... then you might have an argument.
 
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As has been said, the point of this day is to celebrate the birth of a nation and recognize what people had to go through to make that dream a reality. I have nothing against anyone else in the world, but I am American and proud of it. I won't ever apologize for having pride in my nation.
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
Your argument doesn't follow.... Not least of which is because of your final statement is incorrect. The US is not the reason Europe is not speaking German. The reason Europe does not speak German is because the Soviet Union defeated Germany. The Soviets were the ones that caused nearly 80% of German combat casualties and they were the ones that stormed into Berlin to kill Hitler and destroy the German government.

If you want to say the US is the reason Europe doesn't speak Russian... then you might have an argument.

The reason the Soviets were able to do this is because Germany was fighting a two front war, and the US was supplying them with weapons and supplies. That is not to belittle the USSR's enourmous sacrifice, but Hitler might have been able to do what Napoleon could not, if he had not had the US, British, Free French, and other forces keeping half his own forces occupied and in fact imperiled to his west and also in Africa. We did not just fight for victory... we BUILT victory. We MANUFACTURED victory. We BOUGHT victory. We LENT and GAVE victory. Victory came from every person in this country who saved and recycled and made do and did without, who endured rationing and bought war bonds, who left the home or farm or ranch to work in defense industries, who trained and shifted to fields of endeavor useful to the war effort, who switched from manufacturing sewing machines and the like to .45 pistols and Garands, and last but not least to those who honorably answered the call of the draft or who volunteered to go overseas and fight for someone else's freedom and not merely his own.

The Soviets did not win the war. The USA did not win the war. WE who opposed tyranny all over the world won the war. Without the USSR the outcome would have been quite uncertain. Without the USA, it would have been doubtful. The fact of the matter is, together we and all our allies prevented the permanent Nazi conquest of Europe.

But wait a minute... didn't we skip the World War? The relatively late entry of the USA into that war notwithstanding, our involvement may have made the difference in the language spoken today in Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, and the rest of Europe. Had the Kaiser won, Hitler would probably have never even made the news. WWII would not have happened. And German would be the common language of Europe.
 
I've always been fascinated by the brilliance and sacrifices our Founders were willing to make. John Hancock had real guts leaving the Hornet in service when we took out all of those Japanese carriers at Midway. John Adams set a record for hoarding ration books in 1943, and no one...NO ONE, could get a B-17 off the line faster than his wife Abigail. Jefferson piloted a landing ship at Normandy. Who can forget the pictures of Robert Morris atop a tank with Patton at the Battle of the Bulge? Best of all was Benjamin Franklin making Joey Chestnutt and Kobayashi look like a couple of chumps at Nathan's hot dog eating contest yesterday.

US Independence Day is not an occasion to insult Americans, nor is it appropriate to parse just who is responsible for success and failure in WW II. Millions of people gave their lives in that fight, and we insult their memories doing this.

Thanks to the OP for starting this thread. I did not know some of the hardships the Signers experienced for their courage.
 
The reason the Soviets were able to do this is because Germany was fighting a two front war, and the US was supplying them with weapons and supplies. That is not to belittle the USSR's enourmous sacrifice, but Hitler might have been able to do what Napoleon could not, if he had not had the US, British, Free French, and other forces keeping half his own forces occupied and in fact imperiled to his west and also in Africa. We did not just fight for victory... we BUILT victory. We MANUFACTURED victory. We BOUGHT victory. We LENT and GAVE victory. Victory came from every person in this country who saved and recycled and made do and did without, who endured rationing and bought war bonds, who left the home or farm or ranch to work in defense industries, who trained and shifted to fields of endeavor useful to the war effort, who switched from manufacturing sewing machines and the like to .45 pistols and Garands, and last but not least to those who honorably answered the call of the draft or who volunteered to go overseas and fight for someone else's freedom and not merely his own.

The Soviets did not win the war. The USA did not win the war. WE who opposed tyranny all over the world won the war. Without the USSR the outcome would have been quite uncertain. Without the USA, it would have been doubtful. The fact of the matter is, together we and all our allies prevented the permanent Nazi conquest of Europe.

But wait a minute... didn't we skip the World War? The relatively late entry of the USA into that war notwithstanding, our involvement may have made the difference in the language spoken today in Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, and the rest of Europe. Had the Kaiser won, Hitler would probably have never even made the news. WWII would not have happened. And German would be the common language of Europe.

My Grandfather was one of those one million plus "Dough Boys" who fought in World War I. He left his farm in Virginia and fought on the Western Front, went "over the top" from the trenches to help preserve liberty for a kind people he had never met in a country he had never visited. He told me many of his experiences in the 'Great War" but hes always spoke well of the Germans as a "people" and Europe as well.
My father fought in Europe later in World war II and said a lot of the same things. He also helped to preserve the freedoms of others. And when the wars were over we helped to rebuild and extended a hand of friendship. This trait just seems to be in our DNA to help when others are in need. Oops, there I go again being an idealistic "American" I need to get a grip.
 
Sigh... since when was July 4 such a controversial day? Besides, we all know what the date really celebrates - the defeat of the alien invasion of July 4, as shown in the documentary Independence Day, featuring Will Smith.
 
+1 on the sacrifices and wisdom of our US revolutionary leaders. Let us also not forget that they also had to win the peace after the revolution and appreciate their wisdom and leadership in establishing a system of government that has allowed for 13 independent difficult to govern colonies to usually resolve their differences in peace, protect individual freedom, and promote prosperity.
 

luvmysuper

My elbows leak
Staff member
I'm disgusted that some of our members would come into a thread noting the sacrifice of a Nations founding fathers, on that nations very birthday and make comments denigrating the spirit of pride and patriotism displayed.

Shame on you fellows, you know who you are, and it turns my stomach that you have so little decency as to keep your lopsided views to yourself for one day.

This day won't even likely register in your memory (if you are ever permitted to post in the Barbershop again) when you hit that report post button because someone has made snide, snarky, or sarcastic posts in a thread you have an interest in.
 
Well said, Phil. It's a sad day that such an educational and well written OP can be tarnished by such BS.
 
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