The following was written by Michael W. Smith:
https://michaelwsmith.com/the-sacrifices-made-by-the-declaration-signers/
"What happened to the signers of the Declaration of Independence?
This is the Price They Paid
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.”
We see evidence today of those in high power acting like the British. They imprison the Jan. 6 people, who walked peacefully into the Capitol Building (a building which I must say was built with taxpayer dollars, maintained with taxpayer dollars, and where members of Congress, supposedly voted into office by taxpayers, conduct business). They falsely accuse others of crimes which they themselves do, in order to make them financially destitute, lose their jobs and their families. They burn down homes and businesses via hired Antifa and BLM thugs, accuse others of racism, spy on citizens, present false narratives to the FISA Courts (who most likely knew the information was fictitious), and kill and maim all to keep control and power. We the people have not had our votes count for decades, until 2016 when so many voters turned out and voted for DJT. They were caught off guard and had not sufficiently rigged the election. That is HRC was so mad and refused to concede. She was told her Presidency was a done deal, just like in the past. As punishment to those who voted for Trump in 2016 and to prevent them from doing so again, Covid was created in 2017 with U.S. government backing in the Wuhan labs, released worldwide to spread to the U.S. and other countries in order to launch the Great Reset. Alternative drugs were suppressed and those who tried to inform were censored. Lockdowns and destruction of small businesses occurred and employers mandated Covid shots, which were known by Big Pharma, to prevent nothing: no protection against Covid, but most certainly death and harm. Voter cheating was encouraged, while those who wouldn’t take the Covid shot, were fired. Once again indebtedness, loss of family, increased drug and alcohol use, suicide and depression= financial implosion.
That was well stated!