We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
This Fourth of July, let us remember our good Declaration of Independence and all those who were a part of making that happen back in 1776 and beyond.
There were 56 signers on that great document. All men and all were living in the 13 colonies.
• Nine of them fought and died in the American Revolution.
• Four other signers lost their sons in the Continental Army, killed or captured.
• Five of those men were captured by the British and tortured as traitors.
• There were at least a dozen of those citizens who had their homes looted and destroyed.
I’m sure there are more stories than these.
The Signers:
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott.
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean.
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton.
Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton.
Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry.
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton.
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark.
New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris.
North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn.
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross.
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery.
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton.
Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton.
Happy Fourth of July.
See you Tuesday.
The Fourth and 56
