What Were the Founding Fathers Thinking . . .

. . . as they retired the evening of July 4, 1776?

The 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence earlier that day had pledged to each other their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor as they “absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britian, is and ought to be totally dissolved.” 

They recognized they were standing up against the world’s superpower of that day.  It is said the sun never set on the British Empire during that time in history.   According to worldatlas.com:  “Between the 18th and 20th century, the British Empire acquired more territories making it the largest empire in history. The Empire had establishments in Africa, Asia, Europe, America, and numerous Islands across the globe.”

The author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, listed 27 reasons why the colonists were declaring independence.  This is what King George was subjecting the 13 colonies to:

·         “ . . . He has made judges dependent on his will alone

·         . . .  He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out our substance.

·         . . .  He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies . . .

·         . . . To subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution

·         . . . For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us

·         . . .  For imposing taxes on us without our consent

·         . . .  For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of trial by jury

·         . . .  For establishing an arbitrary government

·         . . .  For altering fundamentally the forms of our governments

·         . . .  He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

·         . . .  He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny

·          . . . He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.”

Did you know Thomas Jefferson’s original rough draft of the Declaration of Independence condemned slavery?  Did you know several colonies had passed laws to prohibit or, at a minimum, restrain slavery?  Yet, King George had ignored the colonies’ attempt to limit slavery.  Because fighting had already begun and cities were already burning, the colonies had to show a unified front and the Declaration of Independence had to pass unanimously.  Needless to say, a few delegates from the southern colonies objected to Jefferson’s line condemning slavery.   The compromise that was made in order to get a unanimous vote on the Declaration would extend slavery for another 90 years in what would become the United States of America.  The US Civil War would cost the lives of over 600,000 Americans, but we stand as the only nation to fight a civil war in order to end slavery. 

Of course, they knew none of this as they signed the Declaration of Independence; they were concerned about what they were experiencing at that point in time and about the outcome of their efforts to seek independence from Great Britain.  We cannot know for sure what the Founding Fathers were thinking that night, but their reported comments during the signing give us some inkling as to what they were thinking as they went to bed that evening.

John Hancock, who signed in large letters so King George could easily see his signature, said “the price on my head has just doubled.

Benjamin Franklin said, “We must hang together or most assuredly we shall hang separately.”

They knew King George would declare their actions treasonous and they also knew the penalty for treason was death by hanging.  Knowing this they still mutually pledged to each other their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor.   The phrase preceding that pledge is mostly ignored, but it says, “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence . . . .” 

The 56 signers were placing their lives, fortunes and sacred honor . . . and the outcome of the coming War for Independence into the hands of Nature’s God, whom they reference in the opening paragraph of the Declaration of Independence!   They had taken the step and signed the document, now it was up to God to see their efforts for independence come to fruition.  However, they knew independence would come at a high price and it did:

·         11 of the Signers had their homes destroyed

·         5 were hunted and captured

·         17 served in the military

·         9 died during the war

·         Several lost their fortunes and died in rags

·         Several had sons either captured or killed during the War

·         Several lost, not only their property, but their entire families during the War.

The price they paid was high for the freedoms we have enjoyed.  What price are we willing to pay in order to see that future generations enjoy the freedoms we have?