“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 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 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. 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. 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 firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.’”
Michael W Smith
Thank you @ExploreSpaceKSC for inviting the @LMSpace employees in the @NASA_Orion for the grande premier of @Snoopy show, "All Systems Go"
It was amazing! Everyone needs to see this show about the Charlie Brown and his friends who are helping with @NASAArtemis.
Snoopy has gone where no beagle has gone before.
Following the successful conclusion of the #Artemis I Moon mission, @NASAGroundSys teams have begun unloading the payloads aboard, including the zero-gravity indicator #AstronautSnoopy. https://t.co/4133rM7suf
While casting shade on @elonmusk for what he’s done, is doing, or will do, try to pause & remember that he made electric cars a normal thing in society and he commercialized space — for cargo, satellites, & people.
Count him among those who are inventing civilization’s future.
I spent the morning freezing my butt off on the side of the road to get a shot of this: That’s the International Space Station moving Mach 25 in low earth orbit transiting the moon 1000x further away!
Good morning. It is a great day to
SKIP OFF THE ATMOSPHERE AT OVER 24,000 MPH, RE-ENTER AT 16,800 MPH, BURN AT TWICE THE TEMPERATURE OF HOT LAVA, AND USE 11 PARACHUTES TO GENTLY LAND IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN USING NOTHING BUT AIR.