The Americans Who Risked Everything (by Rush Limbaugh's father)

My father, Rush H. Limbaugh, Jr., delivered this oft-requested address locally a number of times, but it had never before appeared in print until it appeared in The Limbaugh Letter. My dad was renowned for his oratory skills and for his original mind; this speech is, I think, a superb demonstration of both. I will always be grateful to him for instilling in me a passion for the ideas and lives of America's Founders, as well as a deep appreciation for the inspirational power of words which you will see evidenced here:

It was a glorious morning. The sun was shining and the wind was from the southeast. Up especially early, a tall bony, redheaded young Virginian found time to buy a new thermometer, for which he paid three pounds, fifteen shillings. He also bought gloves for Martha, his wife, who was ill at home.

Thomas Jefferson arrived early at the statehouse. The temperature was 72.5 degrees and the horseflies weren't nearly so bad at that hour. It was a lovely room, very large, with gleaming white walls. The chairs were comfortable. Facing the single door were two brass fireplaces, but they would not be used today.

The moment the door was shut, and it was always kept locked, the room became an oven. The tall windows were shut, so that loud quarreling voices could not be heard by passersby. Small openings atop the windows allowed a slight stir of air, and also a large number of horseflies. Jefferson records that "the horseflies were dexterous in finding necks, and the silk of stockings was nothing to them." All discussing was punctuated by the slap of hands on necks.

On the wall at the back, facing the president's desk, was a panoply -- consisting of a drum, swords, and banners seized from Fort Ticonderoga the previous year. Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold had captured the place, shouting that they were taking it "in the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!"

Now Congress got to work, promptly taking up an emergency measure about which there was discussion but no dissension. "Resolved: That an application be made to the Committee of Safety of Pennsylvania for a supply of flints for the troops at New York."

Then Congress transformed itself into a committee of the whole. The Declaration of Independence was read aloud once more, and debate resumed. Though Jefferson was the best writer of all of them, he had been somewhat verbose. Congress hacked the excess away. They did a good job, as a side-by-side comparison of the rough draft and the final text shows. They cut the phrase "by a self-assumed power." "Climb" was replaced by "must read," then "must" was eliminated, then the whole sentence, and soon the whole paragraph was cut. Jefferson groaned as they continued what he later called "their depredations." "Inherent and inalienable rights" came out "certain unalienable rights," and to this day no one knows who suggested the elegant change.

A total of 86 alterations were made. Almost 500 words were eliminated, leaving 1,337. At last, after three days of wrangling, the document was put to a vote.

Here in this hall Patrick Henry had once thundered: "I am no longer a Virginian, sir, but an American." But today the loud, sometimes bitter argument stilled, and without fanfare the vote was taken from north to south by colonies, as was the custom. On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted.

There were no trumpets blown. No one stood on his chair and cheered. The afternoon was waning and Congress had no thought of delaying the full calendar of routine business on its hands. For several hours they worked on many other problems before adjourning for the day.

What kind of men were the 56 signers who adopted the Declaration of Independence and who, by their signing, committed an act of treason against the crown? To each of you, the names Franklin, Adams, Hancock and Jefferson are almost as familiar as household words. Most of us, however, know nothing of the other signers. Who were they? What happened to them?

I imagine that many of you are somewhat surprised at the names not there: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Patrick Henry. All were elsewhere.

Ben Franklin was the only really old man. Eighteen were under 40; three were in their 20s. Of the 56 almost half - 24 - were judges and lawyers. Eleven were merchants, nine were landowners and farmers, and the remaining 12 were doctors, ministers, and politicians.

With only a few exceptions, such as Samuel Adams of Massachusetts, these were men of substantial property. All but two had families. The vast majority were men of education and standing in their communities. They had economic security as few men had in the 18th Century.

Each had more to lose from revolution than he had to gain by it. John Hancock, one of the richest men in America, already had a price of 500 pounds on his head. He signed in enormous letters so that his Majesty could now read his name without glasses and could now double the reward. Ben Franklin wryly noted: "Indeed we must all hang together, otherwise we shall most assuredly hang separately."

Fat Benjamin Harrison of Virginia told tiny Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts: "With me it will all be over in a minute, but you, you will be dancing on air an hour after I am gone."

These men knew what they risked. The penalty for treason was death by hanging. And remember, a great British fleet was already at anchor in New York Harbor.

They were sober men. There were no dreamy-eyed intellectuals or draft card burners here. They were far from hot-eyed fanatics yammering for an explosion. They simply asked for the status quo. It was change they resisted. It was equality with the mother country they desired. It was taxation with representation they sought. They were all conservatives, yet they rebelled.

It was principle, not property, that had brought these men to Philadelphia. Two of them became presidents of the United States. Seven of them became state governors. One died in office as vice president of the United States. Several would go on to be U.S. Senators. One, the richest man in America, in 1828 founded the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. One, a delegate from Philadelphia, was the only real poet, musician and philosopher of the signers. (It was he, Francis Hopkinson not Betsy Ross who designed the United States flag.)

Richard Henry Lee, a delegate from Virginia, had introduced the resolution to adopt the Declaration of Independence in June of 1776. He was prophetic in his concluding remarks: "Why then sir, why do we longer delay? Why still deliberate? Let this happy day give birth to an American Republic. Let her arise not to devastate and to conquer but to reestablish the reign of peace and law.

"The eyes of Europe are fixed upon us. She demands of us a living example of freedom that may exhibit a contrast in the felicity of the citizen to the ever-increasing tyranny which desolates her polluted shores. She invites us to prepare an asylum where the unhappy may find solace, and the persecuted repost.

"If we are not this day wanting in our duty, the names of the American Legislatures of 1776 will be placed by posterity at the side of all of those whose memory has been and ever will be dear to virtuous men and good citizens."

Though the resolution was formally adopted July 4, it was not until July 8 that two of the states authorized their delegates to sign, and it was not until August 2 that the signers met at Philadelphia to actually put their names to the Declaration.

William Ellery, delegate from Rhode Island, was curious to see the signers' faces as they committed this supreme act of personal courage. He saw some men sign quickly, "but in no face was he able to discern real fear." Stephan Hopkins, Ellery's colleague from Rhode Island, was a man past 60. As he signed with a shaking pen, he declared: "My hand trembles, but my heart does not."

Even before the list was published, the British marked down every member of Congress suspected of having put his name to treason. All of them became the objects of vicious manhunts. Some were taken. Some, like Jefferson, had narrow escapes. All who had property or families near British strongholds suffered.

· Francis Lewis, New York delegate saw his home plundered -- and his estates in what is now Harlem -- completely destroyed by British Soldiers. Mrs. Lewis was captured and treated with great brutality. Though she was later exchanged for two British prisoners through the efforts of Congress, she died from the effects of her abuse.

· William Floyd, another New York delegate, was able to escape with his wife and children across Long Island Sound to Connecticut, where they lived as refugees without income for seven years. When they came home they found a devastated ruin.

· Philips Livingstone had all his great holdings in New York confiscated and his family driven out of their home. Livingstone died in 1778 still working in Congress for the cause.

· Louis Morris, the fourth New York delegate, saw all his timber, crops, and livestock taken. For seven years he was barred from his home and family.

· John Hart of Trenton, New Jersey, risked his life to return home to see his dying wife. Hessian soldiers rode after him, and he escaped in the woods. While his wife lay on her deathbed, the soldiers ruined his farm and wrecked his homestead. Hart, 65, slept in caves and woods as he was hunted across the countryside. When at long last, emaciated by hardship, he was able to sneak home, he found his wife had already been buried, and his 13 children taken away. He never saw them again. He died a broken man in 1779, without ever finding his family.

· Dr. John Witherspoon, signer, was president of the College of New Jersey, later called Princeton. The British occupied the town of Princeton, and billeted troops in the college. They trampled and burned the finest college library in the country.

· Judge Richard Stockton, another New Jersey delegate signer, had rushed back to his estate in an effort to evacuate his wife and children. The family found refuge with friends, but a Tory sympathizer betrayed them. Judge Stockton was pulled from bed in the night and brutally beaten by the arresting soldiers. Thrown into a common jail, he was deliberately starved. Congress finally arranged for Stockton's parole, but his health was ruined. The judge was released as an invalid, when he could no longer harm the British cause. He returned home to find his estate looted and did not live to see the triumph of the Revolution. His family was forced to live off charity.

· Robert Morris, merchant prince of Philadelphia, delegate and signer, met Washington's appeals and pleas for money year after year. He made and raised arms and provisions which made it possible for Washington to cross the Delaware at Trenton. In the process he lost 150 ships at sea, bleeding his own fortune and credit almost dry.

· George Clymer, Pennsylvania signer, escaped with his family from their home, but their property was completely destroyed by the British in the Germantown and Brandywine campaigns.

· Dr. Benjamin Rush, also from Pennsylvania, was forced to flee to Maryland. As a heroic surgeon with the army, Rush had several narrow escapes.

· John Martin, a Tory in his views previous to the debate, lived in a strongly loyalist area of Pennsylvania. When he came out for independence, most of his neighbors and even some of his relatives ostracized him. He was a sensitive and troubled man, and many believed this action killed him. When he died in 1777, his last words to his tormentors were: "Tell them that they will live to see the hour when they shall acknowledge it [the signing] to have been the most glorious service that I have ever rendered to my country."

· William Ellery, Rhode Island delegate, saw his property and home burned to the ground.

· Thomas Lynch, Jr., South Carolina delegate, had his health broken from privation and exposures while serving as a company commander in the military. His doctors ordered him to seek a cure in the West Indies and on the voyage, he and his young bride were drowned at sea.

· Edward Rutledge, Arthur Middleton, and Thomas Heyward, Jr., the other three South Carolina signers, were taken by the British in the siege of Charleston. They were carried as prisoners of war to St. Augustine, Florida, where they were singled out for indignities. They were exchanged at the end of the war, the British in the meantime having completely devastated their large landholdings and estates.

· Thomas Nelson, signer of Virginia, was at the front in command of the Virginia military forces. With British General Charles Cornwallis in Yorktown, fire from 70 heavy American guns began to destroy Yorktown piece by piece. Lord Cornwallis and his staff moved their headquarters into Nelson's palatial home. While American cannonballs were making a shambles of the town, the house of Governor Nelson remained untouched. Nelson turned in rage to the American gunners and asked, "Why do you spare my home?" They replied, "Sir, out of respect to you." Nelson cried, "Give me the cannon!" and fired on his magnificent home himself, smashing it to bits. But Nelson's sacrifice was not quite over. He had raised $2 million for the Revolutionary cause by pledging his own estates. When the loans came due, a newer peacetime Congress refused to honor them, and Nelson's property was forfeited. He was never reimbursed. He died, impoverished, a few years later at the age of 50.

Of those 56 who signed the Declaration of Independence, nine died of wounds or hardships during the war. Five were captured and imprisoned, in each case with brutal treatment. Several lost wives, sons or entire families. One lost his 13 children. Two wives were brutally treated. All were at one time or another the victims of manhunts and driven from their homes. Twelve signers had their homes completely burned. Seventeen lost everything they owned. Yet not one defected or went back on his pledged word. Their honor, and the nation they sacrificed so much to create is still intact.

He gave two sons to the officer corps in the Revolutionary Army. They were captured and sent to that infamous British prison hulk afloat in New York Harbor known as the hell ship Jersey, where 11,000 American captives were to die. The younger Clarks were treated with a special brutality because of their father. One was put in solitary and given no food. With the end almost in sight, with the war almost won, no one could have blamed Abraham Clark for acceding to the British request when they offered him his sons' lives if he would recant and come out for the King and Parliament. The utter despair in this man's heart, the anguish in his very soul, must reach out to each one of us down through 200 years with his answer: "No."

The 56 signers of the Declaration Of Independence proved by their every deed that they made no idle boast when they composed the most magnificent curtain line in history. "And for the support of this 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."

My friends, I know you have a copy of the Declaration of Independence somewhere around the house - in an old history book (newer ones may well omit it), an encyclopedia, or one of those artificially aged "parchments" we all got in school years ago. I suggest that each of you take the time this month to read through the text of the Declaration, one of the most noble and beautiful political documents in human history.

There is no more profound sentence than this: "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..."

These are far more than mere poetic words. The underlying ideas that infuse every sentence of this treatise have sustained this nation for more than two centuries. They were forged in the crucible of great sacrifice. They are living words that spring from and satisfy the deepest cries for liberty in the human spirit.

"Sacred honor" isn't a phrase we use much these days, but every American life is touched by the bounty of this, the Founders' legacy. It is freedom, tested by blood, and watered with tears.

"Which do you think is more likely? That the author of the web page I link to, a gentleman apparently interested only in recounting the life of this particular d about the rumors floating around? Or that Limbaugh, Jr. repeated something he had come across that seemed to fit a point he wanted to make?"

Honestly? I've learned not to believe anything from today's writers. That is unless it is accompanied with actual pictures of the original article on record.

Libs have been feverishly working to change our history and destroy what once was America. Book after book, documentary after documentary of lies, all lies to tear down this great big beautiful country. Destroy our pride in the country we love in order to push their goals forward. And as far as I can tell it's been going on since the 60's.

So the answer is no. I don't believe in the author of the web page. Guess we will just have to agree to disagree you and I. But anyway, have a great 4th of July!

…Rush specifically says “not one” of the signers ever recanted. This is untrue.

The last part of your statement is correct -- the first part is untrue. Rush DID NOT "...“not one” of the signers ever recanted." His father did in his speech, which Rush posted.

>>I’m willing to give Kennedy to benefit of the doubt on this one,

>>although the whole notion is quite fascistic.

I was born in 1961 and I'm not sure what to make of JFK. I don't see him as a role model. I wouldn't want a child to emulate him.

At best I see him as a player in the dialectic football game where my generation has played the role of pigskin. Apparentlty we're all supposed to be "dazed and confused".

Little Red Ridinghood: Oh my, what big Usus Fructus you have grandma!

Big Bad Wolf: Ahh, the better to tax you with my dear!

Thomas Jefferson: Not by the hair of my chiny chin chin!

Lovely sentiments. However, it is greatly embellished at best and just plain untrue at worst.

"At best?"

You need to reread your Snopes piece which - yes, does some debunking - but is also loaded with caveats such as "possibly", "more likely", "unlikely", etc.

And it's one thing to debunk with a categorical truth, quite another to debunk with a trashy speculation.

The truth is that we may never in many cases know the absolute unvarnished truth. But your Snopes article is laughable as an authoritative source for that endeavor.

The first two of the post are Rush’ introduction to his father’s speech -- the last four paragraphs are also Rush’s words. Everything in between are his father’s words.

Now go to about the middle of the speedh to the section calledLives, Fortunes, Honor and you will find tht the first paragraph there says:

“Yet not one defected or went back on his pledged word. Their honor, and the nation they sacrificed so much to create is still intact.

Is this what you see as the offending statement that the Signers were singled out?’ “Even before the list was published, the British marked down every member of Congress suspected of having put his name to treason. All of them became the objects of vicious manhunts. ... . “ Otherwise, I’ve missed the passage where he said they were particularly singled out.

In any case, the psychology of warfare would seem to have been (then as now) to capture high visibility targets. Like Jefferson, some of my anacestors were farmers in VA ... now, if you are the Crown, to make your point are you going to go after TJ or after a small no-name farmer who supports him and his mission ? Both could have been hanged for treason. One’s imprisonment or hanging would have had far more value to opponents of the Revolution.

Whether or not they were specifically singled out for torment by the British, they deserve to be singled out for the highest praise for their role in our country’s founding... and 99.9% of Americans would be hard pressed to name even 5 of the Signers. Regretably.

This would have paid for 50 to 75 meals in a tavern. Hope it was a nice one.

You mean like 50 to 75 McDonalds meals? 60 large Italian subs?

That would be about $250 to $450 in current dollars, which is by no means excessive for a nifty new scientific gadget of the type Jefferson coveted throughout his life.

Hey, did you know that new Canon digital camera with 28mm lens is on sale at Staples for about $275!!

By gosh, that's only 50 to 75 meals at my local Tender & Juicy chicken joint!

"Whether or not they were specifically singled out for torment by the British, they deserve to be singled out for the highest praise for their role in our country’s founding... and 99.9% of Americans would be hard pressed to name even 5 of the Signers."

Yes, that is the most important point - and as I said above, the RISKS they ran were indeed pretty much unlimited even if they did not all pay as steep a price as the essay suggests. They were indeed regarded as traitors to the British crown and could have been executed, imprisoned, disposssed, etc. at any moment.

We should celebrate these patriots (far-sighted 'patriots' to a nation that was just beginning to form in political terms) as founders and leaders who made everything else possible.

Still, in the legitimate interests of historical accuracy it would be great to see someone with the requisite expertise produce a similar concise summary of the signers that was as fully verified and accurate as may be feasible. Considering the imperfections and gaps in the historical record, perfection is not attainable. However, it would be great to have a corrected version.

"I have just never seen any evidence that such a price was placed for the specific act of signing the Declaration. It could have been. As I said earlier, if there was a price, it was never collected. None of the Signers was executed by the British."

Then you cannot call that particular matter in the article an embellishment if you yourself don't know.

Thank you for posting this stirring speech by Rush Limbaugh Jr., a true patriot who begat a Great American, and who took the time to learn our history and revere our Founders.
There was a time when FReeper Patriots would all demonstrate honor in their responses to a post such as this.
The Spirit of the founding of our Nation is quite clear, and those who choose to quibble over the recounting of the original Independence Day signers, based on one third-or-fourth-hand source, I suspect of having an agenda in doing so. But then, some people are never going to "get it:" The phrase and reality of Sacred Honor is the most important point in this speech and the basis of this Great Nation.

Sherman -- You've done a good - or should I say "determined" - job at debunking the article, but not much at all to answer core questions: was any signer targeted; were any imprisoned; did any suffer huge personal or financial losses; etc etc. There are many questions about their fate.

Fortunately the road has been walked before, and perhaps there will be some answers there. Neither you nor Swopes have been very helpful.

Quick and dirty list from Amazon:

The Signers: The 56 Stories Behind the Declaration of Independence (Hardcover) by Dennis Brindell Fradin (Author), Michael McCurdy (Author)

Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence (Paperback) by Benson J. Lossing (Author)

Greatness to Spare: The Heroic Sacrifices of the Men Who Signed the Declaration of Independence (Paperback) by T. R. Fehrenbach (Author) \

Wives of the Signers (Paperback) by Harry Clinton Green (Author), Mary Wolcott Green (Author), David Barton (Author)

That's a 2-minute search on Amazon, I'm sure there are other books that cover the topic.

To those who may claim that Sherman is a killjoy for wanted to correct an embellished record, I have to agree with what he is doing. Not only do we want to remember the truth, but when we embellish heroic acts to the level of perfection, we then start to take the actions of great men out of the realm of possibility for us flawed folk.

I am blessed to have ancestors who helped found this country. I remember being thunderstruck when I heard stories from family historians about the mistakes, the foibles, the sheer humanity of these great men who, as I was taught in class at school, were given plastic veneers of infallibility and god-like hero stature. At last, hearing the real stories, I knew I had a chance to be like them, that failure was possible and never a reason to stop fighting for what is right.

How can a kid grow up hoping to be perfect? It can’t be done. So when faced with impossible legends, kids are awed but not inspired. The real stories, the actual truth, make it possible for this new generation to find its own courage amid the imperfections and obstacles of this all-too-human life.

May God bless every American and keep them this day.

>>>>I have to agree with what he is doing. Not only do we want to remember the truth, but when we embellish heroic acts to the level of perfection,<<<<

I’ll agree with the debunking element...

... but it’s also fair to say that we cannot replace these questionable “certainties” with “maybe”, “perhaps”, “possibly”, or “might have”.

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