The Men Behind the Declaration of Independence

We first came across this classic piece from Paul Harvey last year; today, we found the video:



Highlights:

• These were men of means; well educated.

• Punishment for Treason was hanging.

• Their names were kept secret for six months.

• "If they won this fight, they best they could expect was years of hardship in a struggling nation; if they lost, they faced a hangman's rope."

• Carter Braxton lost his home and property and died in rags.

• Thomas McKean was forced to move his family five times in five months.

• Thomas Nelson took out $2 million in debt (in 1780's dollars) and was never reimbursed.

• Five signers were tortured by the British.

• These were men of means who sacrificed everything.

• They pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor and they fulfilled that pledge.