Grading the 2000 Essay
Questions, comments, corrections or additions are solicited. Contact me at
elbrecht@email.com
Mention of these email essays made it to C-span's Morning Journal on the 4th of July, where 'Rocky' D.J. Rockefeller, a Director of the MD archives, said ;
"The email that is floating around is fundamentally true in its basic points."
I'm not sure which 'basic points' Dr. Rockefeller was referring to, but I can only hope that he meant that the message was saying that the Signers took great risks by participating in the Revolution.
Here's my grade;
I won't take off for spelling or punctuation, though there are four of the fifteen named Signatories' names spelled incorrectly. I won't make any comments, as all are covered in the
Harvey-reb.htm page.In the few cases where Signers home or property were damaged by the American Army, rather than the British as these essays imply, I'll let those go.
I'll re-iterate that I'm not finding any fault with the Spirit of these essays, but with what they try to pass off as factual accounts of how the Signers as a body were treated by the British. They were, probably more than any time in history since, as much the victims of war as any of their countrymen.
As generous as I feel I've been with this essay due to it's patriotic content, the best grade I could give it would be less than 30%.
As always, I'd be happy to discuss any individual points & we can compare sources. Some of my conclusions, like Nelson's home & poverty, are indisputable fact. Other conclusions have been reached by weighing a preponderance of the evidence.
The facts below are in red if incorrect, and in blue, if correct.
1.
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.2.
Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.3.
Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.4.
Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.5.
Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners;
6.
men of means, well educated.7.
But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.8.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy.9.
He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.10.
Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly.11.
He served in the Congress without pay,12.
and his family was kept in hiding.13.
His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.14.
Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.15.
At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters.16.
He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire.17.
The home was destroyed,18.
and Nelson died bankrupt.19.
Francis Lewis had his home20.
and properties destroyed.21.
The enemy jailed his wife,22.
and she died within a few months.23.
John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying.24.
Their 13 children fled for their lives.25.
His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste.26.
For more than a year he lived in forests and caves,27.
returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.28.
A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart.29., 30.
Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.
31.
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."32.
We were British subjects at that time and we fount our own government!33.
Remember: freedom is never free!
Back to the
Signer Index or to the Bibliography or to the Limbaugh page or to the Harvey Page. Or toQuestions, comments, corrections or additions are solicited. I am sure to have made some mistakes, or stated as fact something that is disputed. I am most interested in getting the stories right, not in proving any theory, or in making any point.
Questions, comments, corrections or additions are solicited.
Contact me at
elbrecht@email.comã
2000 by James ElbrechtThis page was last updated on Monday, July 17, 2000