Hooray for patriots who risked all for freedom

Pignanelli: "And for the support of this Declaration, with the firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor." This compelling, but rarely heard, pronouncement is the last sentence of the Declaration of Independence. The 56 brave souls who affixed their signature to the document never wavered from this commitment. Their faithfulness has been, and remains, a source of inspiration for generations of Americans.

The biography of these "revolutionaries" demonstrates the tremendous courage and vision they possessed. All of the signatories were well-educated (physicians, lawyers and businessmen) and blessed with significant property holdings. Unlike most rebels in world history, their families were not threatened with physical oppression or faced starvation. Although recent disputes were disrupting trade activities, their economic interests were expanding, not diminishing. Thus, no materialistic rationale justified their open declaration of independence from the nation with which they shared so much spiritual, cultural and historic heritage.

Yet, they risked their fortunes, families and comfortable lifestyle by declaring hostility against the largest economic and military power on the planet. Their actions were not in behalf of more food or intellectual freedom — instead, they pursued an ideal very much in an embryonic stage. Most of them paid a heavy price for their treason.

Prominent New Jersey attorney Richard Stockton was captured and imprisoned by the British four months later. Poorly treated while incarcerated, Stockton lost most of his property from British activities and died a poor man. Similarly, Arthur Middleton and Thomas Heyward were captured by British forces invading Charleston and held prisoner while their fortunes were decimated. Carter Braxton used his inherited wealth to underwrite shipping activities in support of the revolutionary cause. The losses and debts Braxton incurred impoverished his family for generations. Robert Morris, another wealthy rebel, was never restored to his financial status because of loans, never repaid, to benefit the Continental Army. Physician Lyman Hall, accused of high treason, fled from royalist troops after suffering the loss of his home. Successful farmer John Hart witnessed the looting of his homestead by British troops and was forced to hide to avoid capture. (All those who signed suffered some loss.)

In 1776, there were no human rights organizations that protected citizens in expressing their conscience. The signatories jeopardized, without any hope of external safeguards, a contented life as colonial aristocrats in order to establish a government and society that was a theoretical experiment.