The Signing of the Declaration of Independence

The men who signed the Decla - ration of Independence were mostly men of comfortable or rich means .

Each man had far more to lose from revolution than he had to gain . It was principle , not property , which brought such men to Phila - delphia to sign the Declaration .

They were of the Establishment , Style 1776 . Had you been sent out to arrest some rebels , the chances are you would never have looked a second time at any of these men . Almost all of them had an abundant supply of fortune and sacred honor .

When they pledged these to the support of a declaration that the Colonies would no longer be subservient to a distant king , a British fleet was already lying at anchor in New York Harbor .

Most of them were relatively young men with enough worldly goods to be called affluent , but it was honor that motivated them most .

Benjamin Franklin was the only man among them who was really aged . Eighteen Founding Fathers were still less than forty years old and three of them were still in their twenties .

Their occupations were varied . Twenty-four were jurists or lawyers . Nine were landowners or rich farmers and eleven were merchants . The rest were physicians , ministers , politicians and shippers .

A few would have been called poor . Sam Adams of Massachusetts , the poorest , came to Congress wearing a new suit which had been given him by people who wished him well . He could not afford a new suit .

All but two who signed the Declaration had families and most of them were men of education

Melvin Munn

and considerable standing in their communities . Each of them came from what is now called the “ power structure ” of his area . Each en - joyed a security known to few men at that time .

These men of the 1776 Establish - ment knew the penalty for treason was death by hanging . Affixing their names to the Declaration of Independence was treason against His Majesty ’ s government in London .

John Hancock inherited a great fortune and there was already a price of five hundred pounds on his head before the Declaration was accepted . You will recall the Hancock signature is the largest at the bottom of the document . He signed it in those huge letters so that , in his words , “ His Majesty could now read my name without glasses and could now double the reward .”

The gallows was a favorite subject of humor at the signing . Benjamin Franklin said , “ Indeed , we must all hang together , or assuredly we shall all hang separately .”

Then there was heavyweight Benjamin Harrison of Virginia who told diminutive Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts : “ With me it will all be over in a minute . But you , you ’ ll be dancing on air an hour after I ’ m gone .”

William Ellery of Rhode Island contributed greatly to history . He stationed himself in a position where he could watch the face and hands of each signer as he came to the table . He reported that some signed quickly while others stretched out the historic moment dramatically .

But in no instance could he identify a single expression of fear . His colleague from Rhode Island , Stephen Hopkins , was past sixty and his hand shook as he signed

the Declaration . But Hopkins was still peppery and he snapped , “ My hand trembles , but my heart does not !”

These men were human and fallible and perfection was neither their claim nor their attainment . They were products of the peculiar prejudices of the people of their times . They were very familiar with sectionalism , double-dealing in politics , community fears and nepotism in high office .

These fifty-six men , each in a particular way , represented a genius of colonial American people who had already brought forth some - thing quite new upon this continent .

Even before the Declaration was signed , the British had issued a blanket condemnation of all members of Congress , accusing them of treason . They all became objects of a vicious and constant manhunt . The British caught some ; others , such as Jefferson , had narrow escapes ; and others risked their lives repeatedly in skirmishes and battles .

Every man whose family and property came within control of British forces suffered . For example , the four delegates from New York were men of substantial property and that fleet of British ships was only miles from their homes when they signed .

By that date , the government of New York had already evacuated New York City and moved to White Plains . The four delegates knew their signatures were tantamount to giving away everything they owned .

The British landed three divisions on Long Island August 27 . In a bloody battle , Washington ’ s un - trained militia was driven back to Harlem Heights . British and Hessian soldiers plundered the mansion of Francis Lewis at Whitestone , set it afire and abducted his wife .

The British overran the extensive properties of William Floyd . His wife and children had fled to Connecticut , where they lived as refugees for seven years without

any income . When they returned home , they found their estate “ despoiled of almost everything but the naked soil .”

Philip Livingston , another signer , came from a baronial New York family and had added to his family wealth a very lucrative import business . All his property in New York City was seized by the British when Washington retreated south to Jersey and Livingston ’ s town house on Duke Street and his country estate in Brooklyn Heights were also confiscated .

His family was driven out and they became refugees . He died in 1778 still working in Congress for the cause , having sold everything that had not been stolen from him , in support of the revolution .

Lewis Morris of Westchester County , New York , hid and watched while British troops destroyed the timber and crops on his farm and took away all the livestock . He was a brigadier general in the New York militia during the Revolution .

John Hart of Trenton had been hiding from the British , but took a chance on being captured and went to the bedside of his dying wife . A traitor among the colonists betrayed Hart and Hessian troops rode into the woods hunting him .

They destroyed his gristmill , wrecked his house and all but pulled it down around Mrs . Hart , who was still on her deathbed . John Hart evaded his would-be captors and hid in the woods for months .

When he was finally able to sneak back home , he found that his wife had died and his thirteen children scattered . He died in 1779 without ever seeing any of his family again .

Abraham Clark , a self-made man , gave up two sons as officers in the Revolutionary Army . They were captured and sent to the British prison hulk in New York Harbor . This was the cruel ship Jersey where thousands of Amer - ican captives died .

Dr . John Witherspoon , a Decla -

ration signer , was president of the College of New Jersey at Princeton ( later named Princeton University ). British troops seized the college and used it as billeting headquarters and staging grounds . They burned Witherspoon ’ s great college library , much of which he had brought with him from Scotland .

Richard Stockton , a state supreme court justice , had signed and rushed back to his estate near Princeton in an effort to save his wife and children . He and his family found refuge with friends , but a Tory sympathizer betrayed them . Judge Stockton was pulled from bed one night and beaten . He was thrown in jail where he was starved .

He barely survived ; but when he went back home , he found the estate had been looted , his furniture and all his possessions burned , his library destroyed and his horses stolen . Richard Stockton died soon after that and his surviving family had to live off charity .

Of the fifty-six men who signed the Declaration of Independence , nine died of wounds or hardships during the war . Five were captured , imprisoned and brutally treated . Several lost wives , children , or entire families . One lost his thirteen children .

All were victims of manhunts and were driven from their homes . Twelve signers had their homes burned and seventeen lost every - thing they owned . Not one defected or violated his pledged word .

Their honor and the nation they did so much to create are still intact ; but freedom which began on the Fourth of July , 1776 , came at a high price .

The men who had the most to lose in material things were the first ones to step forward in defense of honor . This was “ The Establish - ment — 1776 .” ||

Editor ’ s Notes

■ Continued from p 2■

something we can expect if folks will devote themselves to the task .

Seeing new converts grow in the Lord and develop into strong Christians and faithful workers for the Lord happens when we do our diligence to minister to the folks .

Seeing families develop strongly with good marriages and rearing good kids is also the fruit of somebody ’ s deliberate efforts .

All of this and more — at the School of the Prophets at this year ’ s National Sword of the Lord Conference .

We are looking forward to having you there .

Annual Preaching Conference , Bethel Baptist Church , Jackson , Tennessee

Dr . Rick Savage plans a week of preaching for rhe first full week of June . It has been my privilege to

be a part of the conference each year for the past 9 years .

Since Brother Savage came 33 years ago , the church moved to a very strategic location on the locally famous Vann Drive . The Columns business area is built on and around Vann Drive just off the 45 bypass and Interstate 40 .

After speaking three times and enjoying the blessings of Sunday , Dr . Mike Allison and I preached together on Monday night .

Dr . Fisher , vice president of Commonwealth Baptist College , brought a ladies ’ trio to help with the special music .

In recent months Bethel Baptist Church has been knocking on many hundreds of doors all across town . They are now restarting their bus routes after the months of COVID shutdowns .

One of the ministries of Bethel Baptist is their Far East Baptist Missions International . They are targeting China .

Blessed and Thankful

Yes , every day we are blessed . We are blessed of the Lord and thankful for all He has done for us .

When we consider what all it means to be saved , yes , we are blessed and thankful .

When we can read our Bibles and hear from His Word how to go about the Christian life , realizing we are not left alone to flounder and find our way , we are blessed and thankful .

When we think of eternity com ing ( the door of Hell was slammed shut and the door of Heaven opened wide because of Jesus ), yes , we are very blessed and very thankful .

When I think of the privilege we have to serve the Lord and work in churches , laboring together in fellowship with other servants of God , yes , we are blessed , very blessed and thankful .

When I ponder all the precious promises of God and study them

in His authentic , accurate , author - ized Word , my , oh my ! how blessed I am and how thankful I am .

When I come to work each day here at the Sword of the Lord international headquarters and see the scope of all we do in reaching across North America and around the world , truly we are blessed and so very thankful .

When I think of all of the folks who stand with us and help us — dear Christians ; precious friends who love the Lord , love His Word and His work and love us as well — yes , I must say it : we are blessed and we are thankful

• • •

Thank you for being our friend . Enjoy this issue of “ the paper ” and do stay in touch .

July 17 ( Sunday a . m ./ p . m .)

New Heights Baptist Church 2796 NC Highway 14 Reidsville , North Carolina

Terry Lawson , pastor 336-342-1087

July 18 – 21 ( Monday – Thursday )

National Sword of the Lord

Conference Gospel Light Baptist Church 890 Walkertown Guthrie Road Walkertown , North Carolina