Following is a guest post by Elizabeth Rosenacker, President of the Harrison Symmes Memorial Foundation. Greater Harrison Chamber members are invited to share their expertise. Contact the Chamber to learn more.
We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed
by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the
Pursuit of Happiness. What beautiful words!
Jefferson went on to list the abuses made by the King of England and state it will not be
tolerated and that it is our Duty to throw off such Government.
He wrote, “In every stage of these Oppressions, we have Petitioned for Redress in the humblest
terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose
character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a
free people”.
No AI Was Used in This Draft
Jefferson finished the draft of our Declaration of Independence in 17 days. The Committee of
Five appointed by the Continental Congress, which also included John Adams, Benjamin
Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston then helped edit the Declaration and present
it to the members.
Fifty-six men – plantation owners, merchants, physicians, scientists, lawyers, ministers and
even a musician. Many held positions in public office. These men weren’t poor, pirates,
irresponsible thugs. They were highly educated, prosperous, successful men who had
everything to lose. Most of them were married and between them, they had 316 children.
The names of the Signers were kept secret for 6 months.
A Dangerous Declaration
In an 1811 letter to John Adams, Benjamin Rush recounted in stark fashion the signing of the
Declaration of Independence. He described it as a scene of “pensive and awful silence”. Rush
said the delegates were called up, one after another, and then filed forward somberly to
subscribe to what each thought was their ensuing death warrant. He related that the “gloom of
the morning” was briefly interrupted when the rotund Benjamin Harrison of Virginia said to a
diminutive Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, at the signing table, “I shall have a great advantage
over you, Mr. Gerry, when we are all hung for what we are now doing. From the size and
weight of my body I shall die in a few minutes and be with the Angels, but from the lightness of
your body you will dance in the air an hour or two before you are dead.” According to Rush,
Harrison’s remark “procured a transient smile, but it was soon succeeded by the Solemnity with
which the whole business was conducted.”
So, exactly who were some of these men….
The most famous signature is of course, John Hancock, he signed first as President of the
Continental Congress. Hancock’s large signature became iconic, and we now all say, “give me
your John Hancock when we want something signed.
Our future presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were among the signatories.
Edward Rutledge (age 26) was the youngest signer and Benjamin Franklin (age 70) the oldest.
Thomas Lynch Jr., one the youngest signers was in poor health so he set off for France to
recuperate. His ship went down and was never heard from again.
Thomas McKean was so harassed by the British that he moved his family 5 times in 5 months.
Served in Congress without pay. His family living in poverty.
Ellery, Clymer, Middleton, Walton, Hayward, Rutledge, and Wynette all had their homes
vandalized and ransacked.
Thomas Nelson Jr. raised 2 million dollars to finance the war and paid back the loans with his
own money and was never repaid by his own government. During the Battle of Yorktown, the
British General Cornwallis was using his home as a headquarters, Nelson urged Washington to
fire upon it. It was nearly destroyed. Nelson died in poverty.
Harrison had his home devastated by the turncoat, Benedict Arnold and British troops but went on to become Governor of Virginia and raise his son, William Henry Harrison, the 9 th President
of the United States of America.
Charles Carroll of Georgia was the last living signer. He died in 1832 at the age of 92, fifty-six years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Everyone of the 56 signers sacrificed, fought, struggled, and did whatever was asked of them to advance the cause of freedom.
The last sentence Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence is for me the
most stirring and profound.
“And for the Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we
mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our Sacred Honor.”
The Signers were truly Remarkable Men.
More from the America250 Series:
About Elizabeth Rosenacker and Harrison Symmes Memorial Foundation
Elizabeth (Liz) Rosenacker is President of the Harrison Symmes Memorial Foundation. The Board is contracted by the Ohio History Connection to manage the President William Henry Harrison Tomb and Congress Green Pioneer Cemetery. The Harrison Symmes Memorial Foundation also has a museum dedicated to President Harrison, John Cleves Symmes and the history of Miami Township. The Foundation educates the public through programs and tours of the tomb and museum and lectures at schools and community events.
Liz has been married to her high school sweetheart, Frank, for 53 years. They have three children, nine grandchildren and two great grandchildren. She’s been a westsider her entire life. Liz belongs to the Governor Othniel Looker Chapter, NSDAR, The Greater Harrison Chamber of Commerce, and volunteers at Mercy West Hospital. She has ancestors who served in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, Civil War, WWI, WWII and recent conflicts. Liz has always been interested in history. After all, being born on July 4th she bleeds Red…White and Blue.