Sharp Rubber Duck

Happy 231st Birthday to the USA!

July 4, 2007

We are grateful for the blessings that freedom represents and for the opportunities it affords. We are thankful for the love of our family and friends and for our rights to think, speak, and worship freely.

The 4th of July is a time for celebrating our great nation and to honor our Founders. They left a legacy of freedom for us to all enjoy. This is also a time to remember those in uniform who are serving our nation with thankfulness for the sacrifices they make so we can all be free.

I received the following in an email a few years ago - and you may also have seen this before, but it's worth reading again today:

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 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 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 looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, 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. He 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.

Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't.

So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots.

It's not much to ask for the price they paid. Remember: freedom is never free!

I also thought I would again share how we came to celebrate our independence on July 4th.

Here's an Independence Day Timeline:

1765-1773 - The British Parliament bypasses colonial assemblies and imposes several internal and external taxes on the outraged colonists.

Dec. 16, 1773 - The colonial response to taxation without representation culminates in the Boston Tea Party. The Sons of Liberty dump 342 chests of tea into Boston harbor.

Sept. 5, 1774 - Delegates begin meeting for the First Continental Congress and agree to send grievances to King George III.

April 19, 1775 - Armed conflict between the colonists and British redcoats begins in Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts.

May 10, 1775 - A Second Continental Congress begins meeting in Philadelphia.

June 11, 1776 - The Continental Congress appoints a five-man committee, including Thomas Jefferson, to draft a Declaration of Independence. J

une 28, 1776 - The committee presents the Declaration for debate and revision.

July 4, 1776 - The Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence without dissent.

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