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King George III had no intention of surrendering his colonies to a bunch of upstart rabble. He ordered the powerful British Army to crush the rebellious colonists, and the signers of the Declaration were at the top of his Most Wanted list.
Lyman Hall was accused of high treason against the British Crown. His property was confiscated and his home and fields were burned. Lewis Morris and Francis Lewis suffered similar fates. John Hart's wealth was also confiscated, and his home was damaged, but not destroyed. An ordinary man might have counted his blessings and avoided antagonizing the British further. But - risking death or imprisonment - John Hart invited the American Army to camp in his fields. George Washington accepted the invitation, and used Hart's field as a staging area for twelve-thousand Soldiers.
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Arthur Middleton, and Richard Stockton were captured by the British and thrown into prison. Stockton lost everything, including an extensive library, and the collected writings of a lifetime. He died a pauper.
A few months after the signing of the Declaration, Thomas Lynch and his wife boarded a ship for the West Indies. The ship vanished. Lynch and his wife were never heard from again.
Even those signatories who escaped the wrath of the British Crown knew their share of sacrifice. Robert Morris paid $10,000 out of his own pocket to buy provisions for the troops at Valley Forge. He personally financed privateers and the blockade runners that brought supplies into the colonies. Prior to the revolution, he had been a wealthy man. He never recovered financially.
Carter Braxton donated £10,000 Sterling to support the fight for freedom. Like Robert Morris, he used his wealth to finance privateers and blockade runners. In the end, this man born to riches, gave up even his inherited country estate to fund the struggle for independence. He literally gave every penny he had.
Two and a quarter centuries have passed since that first generation of American citizens made their pact to risk everything in the name of liberty. To many, the sacrifices of those long-dead patriots seem like ancient history. But the high price paid by our founding fathers did not settle the bill. Nearly every generation since has been called upon to defend the freedoms that we consider our birthright. Americans have fought and died at Saratoga, Chrysler’s Farm, Gettysburg, Ypres, Normandy, Midway, Chosin Reservoir, Hamburger Hill, and a hundred other places - some famous, and some all but forgotten.
The price of liberty is sacrifice. And, as long as there are tyrants and despots in this world, American Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines will continue to risk their lives in the defense of freedom.
The current population of earth is estimated at six and a half billion people. Only about 31 percent of those enjoy most of the basic rights and protections guaranteed to American citizens. Put another way, fewer than one in three people on this planet are entitled to due process, freedom of speech, the right to assemble, freedom against unreasonable search and seizure, or even the right to vote.
To the people of Iraq, freedom is a new and novel concept. They don't have very much experience with it, but they definitely recognize its value. They demonstrated that when they decided to risk death to vote in their national election. They have seen firsthand how difficult it is to snatch liberty from the jaws of tyranny.
America can learn a lesson from the example set by the people of Iraq. We have been wrapped in our own rights and protections for so long that we have begun to believe that they are both common and inexpensive. In fact, the blessings of liberty are unbelievably rare and incredibly costly. We should cherish them accordingly. We must be smarter than the fish in the Chinese proverb. Though our rights and freedoms surround us every day, we cannot allow ourselves to lose sight of their value. A fish can only recognize the true value of water when the water is taken away. We cannot afford to make that same mistake.
