The Real Story of What Happened to the Patriots Who Founded America

What did it mean to be a patriot when the Declaration of Independence was signed? Many of us know from the tales we were told as school children that our Founding Fathers bravely signed the Declaration of Independence and further proclaimed that the thirteen British colonies were now independent from Great Britain. King George took this as a treacherous act of treason and a declaration of war which inevitably led to the American Revolution.

But that brief summation doesn’t quite do justice to what was truly at stake. Our Founding Fathers, were men who understood the world. They were educated, law abiding, successful merchants, farmers and plantation owners. They had made a name for themselves and put all of that on the line to be free from the tyrannical rule from one of the world’s superpowers. It meant risking everything they built during their lifetime to call themselves a patriot. It meant risking losing their family, their fortunes, their honor – everything. They would rather be called a traitor and die a traitor’s death than live under the oppressive ruling of a King.

Would you be willing to do that?

Not everyone who signed the Declaration of Independence were given the accolades and honors after they bravely put their signatures on that paper; there were some that lost it all. For those of you wondering what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence, read on.

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 serving 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 plantation (farmers) 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 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.

This information has been made available by Ready Nutrition