Declaration Of Independence P2

Last week I ended reading to you a portion of the Declaration of Independence. America’s Founders believed that rights came from God; that government must be based on the consent of the governed; and that when governments become tyrannical, that they may be resisted and replaced. The document ends by clearly affirming that the patriots had “a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence.” Academics and popular authors who contend that the Founders did not believe in God must have skipped this line.

Today, too little is known by the general public about those who risked so much. Many Americans no longer know about these heroes’ personal stories, occupations, sacrifices, religious faith, or families. Because of the service they rendered for their country, many patriots were frequently separated from their families, often for long periods and sometimes forever.

Among the signers of the Declaration, such are the stories of Francis Lewis, who lost his wife at the hands of the British; John Witherspoon, whose son was killed by British soldiers; Richard Stockton, who was made a prisoner of war and so abused by the British that his life was cut short, leaving his six children fatherless; and John Hart, who was driven by the British from the bedside of his beloved and ailing wife, whom he never saw again. There are many other heart-wrenching accounts. 

More on this next week for another American Moment.

Sourced From The American Story: The Beginnings by David Barton and Tim Barton.