vacuum
2nd July 2018, 12:41 PM
On this day, 242 years ago in Philadelphia, 56 politicians with guts voted in favor of their own death warrant.
By June 1776, the British had taken over Boston, attempted to confiscate the arms of the local militias (leading to Paul Revere's Ride and the Battles of Lexington and Concord). After their defeats at Lexington & Concord, the British determined to pacify Boston by force at the Battle of Bunker Hill. While the British prevailed, 400 Patriot volunteers took 1,000 British regulars with them.
The last Olive Branch Petition to the King had been returned from London and read aloud to the Congress by President John Hancock. The King had resolved to ignore them and also brand them traitors; all who did not immediately capitulate and surrender would face death.
The British were regrouping after a temporary withdraw from Boston while sending fleets and German mercenaries up the Hudson to New York and up the Delaware to Philadelphia. The only thing standing between the Continental Congress and total British victory were the river defensese in Delaware.
On June 7th, 1776, Mr. Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposed a Declaration of Independence. After a lengthy debate over several days led by John Adams, a 20 day recess was called to allow delegations to seek instructions from their constituent assemblies. As British marched into New York, the Provincial Assembly was forced to flee and the New York delegation was put in a precarious position: obey last instructions and vote against or vote rogue and invite the British to burn the city to the ground. The Continental Congress re-convened on July 2nd and unanimously declared independence - with New York abstaining to prevent the British sack of the city.
Two days later the Congress would agree on the very wording of the Declaration, drafted by Thomas Jefferson but heavily edited by the Continental Congress as a whole.
At this point in time the war could have very easily been lost and there were no guarantees that even the politicians leading the effort would escape British judgement. This vote marked these men for death and they would spend the better part of the next month sneaking in and out of the city to sign the Declaration.
And many of them did in fact pay a massive price, even the ultimate price:
Many of the Founding Fathers didn't make it through the war. They were the 1% and they gave up all their power and prestige to fight for the rights of farmers and craftsmen. This is a little rundown of some of those sacrifices:
William Ellery, Rhode Island: His house and entire estate was burned to the ground. He survived the war and later became a vocal opponent of slavery.
William Floyd, New York: He and his family escaped the British invasion of Long Island to Connecticut, but left behind their home and his entire income. The home was a charred ruin when they returned, penniless, a full 7 years later. He went on to become a U.S. Senator and Congressman from New York.
Francis Lewis, New York: His home and estates on Long Island were destroyed by the British. Even worse, Mrs. Lewis was captured and imprisoned, dying from complications stemming from her incarceration.
Lewis Morris, New York: Far from being a "courteous abstainer" during the debate (as the musical 1776 tells us), Morris literally put his money where his mouth (and signatures) was; the entire Morris financial fortune was put at the service of the Continental Army. Loyalist neighbors confiscated his property, forcing him apart from his family for the duration of the war. His brother Gouverneur (of Constitution fame) also lost most of his wealth during the Revolution.
Phillip Livingston, New York: One of the wealthiest men in American in 1776, Livingston lost every shilling he had as a result of signing the Declaration. His family was driven from their house by the British and his estate plundered. Livingston died impoverished just two years later, while still serving in the Continental Congress.
John Hart, New Jersey: Hart's wife was dying as he signed the Declaration. He hurried home in time to say goodbye, only to be forced to flee as the British approached. His 13 children never saw their father again: they were all forced to flee for their lives as well. He died in 1779.
Richard Stockton, New Jersey: Judge Stockton was arrested by the British in 1776 and imprisoned in a military stockade. He was released 5 years later, his health crippled, and died a pauper in Princeton. Richard Stockton College in New Jersey is named in his honor.
John Witherspoon, New Jersey: A native of Scotland, he earned his Doctorate in Divinity from the University of St. Andrews before immigrating to the colonies to serve as President of the College of New Jersey (better known today as Princeton University). The British responded to his signing the Declaration by burning the College library to the ground when they occupied Princeton a few months later, and pillaged the rest of the campus. Witherspoon returned after the British were expelled from the area by the Continental Army, and lived to see the College rebuilt.
Robert Morris, Pennsylvania: Morris earned a massive fortune as a banker and commercial magnate - and gave it all away to finance the Revolution. The "blockade runners" that brought provisions from Europe to the colonies were entirely paid for and provisioned by Morris. He also loaned the then-enormous sum of $10,000 to the Continental Congress when it was on the verge of bankruptcy in 1776. Unlike the global bankers of today, Morris didn't set any preconditions on a loan that literally kept the nation afloat; also unlike today's CEOs, he never got his money back. He died impoverished in 1806, but not before becoming the nation's first effective Secretary of the Treasury (before 1789, that is).
John Morton, Pennsylvania: Despite living in a Loyalist-dominated part of the colony, and personally preferring reconciliation with Great Britain, Morton signed the Declaration. His neighbors turned on him, and he was forced to remain in Philadelphia. Just before his death in 1777, he submitted to Congress what became known as the "Articles of Confederation".
Thomas Nelson, Virginia: Nelson lived in Yorktown, which of course saw the final showdown of the Revolutionary War. As American guns shelled the British defenses, an anguished Nelson (now a General in the Continental Army) saw that they were sparing his house, which was General Cornwallis' headquarters. As the story goes, Nelson personally turned a cannon towards his home and blew it up, to show that he was no less willing to sacrifice than his fellow Virginians. He loaned over $2 million to the Continental Congress, none of which was repaid, and died impoverished.
The entire South Carolina delegation: All four Palmetto State signatories paid dearly for joining the cause for Independence. Edward Rutledge (the pro-slavery aristocrat in 1776), Arthur Middleton and Thomas Heyward, Jr. were all imprisoned by the British when Charleston was taken in 1780. They were beaten and humiliated in prison, then released to their plantations a year later - which of course had been burned to the ground and completely pillaged. They were more fortunate than co-signatory Thomas Lynch - he disappeared at sea while seeking medical help in the West Indies, together with his young wife, at some point in 1779.
Lyman Hall, Georgia: a physician who had earned his degree from Yale, Dr. Hall helped to supply food and provisions for the Continental Army throughout the war. Despite living the furthest away from Philadelphia of all the signers, he returned to Georgia just once between 1775 and 1780 (when his friend and co-signer Button Gwinnett was killed in a duel). The British burned his property when they seized Savannah in 1780, and after escaping the siege of Charleston found refuge in Connecticut.
Source (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2011/7/4/991181/-)
By June 1776, the British had taken over Boston, attempted to confiscate the arms of the local militias (leading to Paul Revere's Ride and the Battles of Lexington and Concord). After their defeats at Lexington & Concord, the British determined to pacify Boston by force at the Battle of Bunker Hill. While the British prevailed, 400 Patriot volunteers took 1,000 British regulars with them.
The last Olive Branch Petition to the King had been returned from London and read aloud to the Congress by President John Hancock. The King had resolved to ignore them and also brand them traitors; all who did not immediately capitulate and surrender would face death.
The British were regrouping after a temporary withdraw from Boston while sending fleets and German mercenaries up the Hudson to New York and up the Delaware to Philadelphia. The only thing standing between the Continental Congress and total British victory were the river defensese in Delaware.
On June 7th, 1776, Mr. Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposed a Declaration of Independence. After a lengthy debate over several days led by John Adams, a 20 day recess was called to allow delegations to seek instructions from their constituent assemblies. As British marched into New York, the Provincial Assembly was forced to flee and the New York delegation was put in a precarious position: obey last instructions and vote against or vote rogue and invite the British to burn the city to the ground. The Continental Congress re-convened on July 2nd and unanimously declared independence - with New York abstaining to prevent the British sack of the city.
Two days later the Congress would agree on the very wording of the Declaration, drafted by Thomas Jefferson but heavily edited by the Continental Congress as a whole.
At this point in time the war could have very easily been lost and there were no guarantees that even the politicians leading the effort would escape British judgement. This vote marked these men for death and they would spend the better part of the next month sneaking in and out of the city to sign the Declaration.
And many of them did in fact pay a massive price, even the ultimate price:
Many of the Founding Fathers didn't make it through the war. They were the 1% and they gave up all their power and prestige to fight for the rights of farmers and craftsmen. This is a little rundown of some of those sacrifices:
William Ellery, Rhode Island: His house and entire estate was burned to the ground. He survived the war and later became a vocal opponent of slavery.
William Floyd, New York: He and his family escaped the British invasion of Long Island to Connecticut, but left behind their home and his entire income. The home was a charred ruin when they returned, penniless, a full 7 years later. He went on to become a U.S. Senator and Congressman from New York.
Francis Lewis, New York: His home and estates on Long Island were destroyed by the British. Even worse, Mrs. Lewis was captured and imprisoned, dying from complications stemming from her incarceration.
Lewis Morris, New York: Far from being a "courteous abstainer" during the debate (as the musical 1776 tells us), Morris literally put his money where his mouth (and signatures) was; the entire Morris financial fortune was put at the service of the Continental Army. Loyalist neighbors confiscated his property, forcing him apart from his family for the duration of the war. His brother Gouverneur (of Constitution fame) also lost most of his wealth during the Revolution.
Phillip Livingston, New York: One of the wealthiest men in American in 1776, Livingston lost every shilling he had as a result of signing the Declaration. His family was driven from their house by the British and his estate plundered. Livingston died impoverished just two years later, while still serving in the Continental Congress.
John Hart, New Jersey: Hart's wife was dying as he signed the Declaration. He hurried home in time to say goodbye, only to be forced to flee as the British approached. His 13 children never saw their father again: they were all forced to flee for their lives as well. He died in 1779.
Richard Stockton, New Jersey: Judge Stockton was arrested by the British in 1776 and imprisoned in a military stockade. He was released 5 years later, his health crippled, and died a pauper in Princeton. Richard Stockton College in New Jersey is named in his honor.
John Witherspoon, New Jersey: A native of Scotland, he earned his Doctorate in Divinity from the University of St. Andrews before immigrating to the colonies to serve as President of the College of New Jersey (better known today as Princeton University). The British responded to his signing the Declaration by burning the College library to the ground when they occupied Princeton a few months later, and pillaged the rest of the campus. Witherspoon returned after the British were expelled from the area by the Continental Army, and lived to see the College rebuilt.
Robert Morris, Pennsylvania: Morris earned a massive fortune as a banker and commercial magnate - and gave it all away to finance the Revolution. The "blockade runners" that brought provisions from Europe to the colonies were entirely paid for and provisioned by Morris. He also loaned the then-enormous sum of $10,000 to the Continental Congress when it was on the verge of bankruptcy in 1776. Unlike the global bankers of today, Morris didn't set any preconditions on a loan that literally kept the nation afloat; also unlike today's CEOs, he never got his money back. He died impoverished in 1806, but not before becoming the nation's first effective Secretary of the Treasury (before 1789, that is).
John Morton, Pennsylvania: Despite living in a Loyalist-dominated part of the colony, and personally preferring reconciliation with Great Britain, Morton signed the Declaration. His neighbors turned on him, and he was forced to remain in Philadelphia. Just before his death in 1777, he submitted to Congress what became known as the "Articles of Confederation".
Thomas Nelson, Virginia: Nelson lived in Yorktown, which of course saw the final showdown of the Revolutionary War. As American guns shelled the British defenses, an anguished Nelson (now a General in the Continental Army) saw that they were sparing his house, which was General Cornwallis' headquarters. As the story goes, Nelson personally turned a cannon towards his home and blew it up, to show that he was no less willing to sacrifice than his fellow Virginians. He loaned over $2 million to the Continental Congress, none of which was repaid, and died impoverished.
The entire South Carolina delegation: All four Palmetto State signatories paid dearly for joining the cause for Independence. Edward Rutledge (the pro-slavery aristocrat in 1776), Arthur Middleton and Thomas Heyward, Jr. were all imprisoned by the British when Charleston was taken in 1780. They were beaten and humiliated in prison, then released to their plantations a year later - which of course had been burned to the ground and completely pillaged. They were more fortunate than co-signatory Thomas Lynch - he disappeared at sea while seeking medical help in the West Indies, together with his young wife, at some point in 1779.
Lyman Hall, Georgia: a physician who had earned his degree from Yale, Dr. Hall helped to supply food and provisions for the Continental Army throughout the war. Despite living the furthest away from Philadelphia of all the signers, he returned to Georgia just once between 1775 and 1780 (when his friend and co-signer Button Gwinnett was killed in a duel). The British burned his property when they seized Savannah in 1780, and after escaping the siege of Charleston found refuge in Connecticut.
Source (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2011/7/4/991181/-)