Those who misrepresent the facts are the revisionists.
Probably with the best of intentions, this story has been greatly embellished. Since it’s been passed around on the web, it’s likely the inaccuracies grew with each passing on, and without real intent to deceive on most people’s part.
I suspect with a little effort at least several dozen inaccuracies or exaggerations could be extracted from this text.
One jumps out. Rush specifically says “not one” of the signers ever recanted. This is untrue. One did. This does not invalidate the great resolve shown by all the others, but it does illustrate the exaggeration of the piece.
BTW, most of what happened to the Signers was representative of what happened to many others who were not Signers. The country was involved in a brutal foreign and civil war. Many suffered.
There is no great body of evidence that the Signers were particularly singled out as a group. It’s highly unlikely that British officers rode around with a deck of cards with the Signers’ names and faces on them.
In fact, it’s pretty well known that the Declaration was more or less forgotten for a number of years. It’s only in retrospect that it was considered of enormous importance.
Such embellishment is not harmless, IMO. The embellishments of the Washington and Lincoln legends were used as the opening chink in the armor of these great men by those who wanted to show them not just as great but flawed humans but as evil dead white men, oppressors, slavemasters and violators of civil rights. They then used this to discredit the entire American experiment. Our country is based on lies, they say.
I prefer to live by the truth and nothing but. The real truth is always, BTW, much more interesting than the hagiography. America has much to be ashamed of in our past, as does every nation that has ever existed. But it has a great deal more to be proud of.
History does not record the names of all who inspired or supported the Revolution. History will not record the name of every soldier who now serves in Iraq or Afghanistan.
The argument is reminescent of Spike Lee’s recent attack on Clint Estwood for making a film about Iwo Jima and not featuring the African Americans who were on the island.
What is the point of the Snopes piece? Egalitarianism? As a proud decendant of a variety of Revolutionary “patriots” no one ever heard of, I am not in the least offended that we don’t hear of their individual sacrifice. Everyone knows that 56 individuals did not carry out the Revolution alone, any more than the six flag-raisers took Iwo Jima on their own.
The story is about the 56 signers. You seem to have an issue with that focus. And what you wrote above has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with embellishment or untruths.
"There is no great body of evidence that the Signers were particularly singled out as a group. It’s highly unlikely that British officers rode around with a deck of cards with the Signers’ names and faces on them."
"Highly unlikely"
What kind of source is that? Your not even a revisionist. You are a "could be," "might not be," "not likely" historian.
Did the British have a price on the heads of the signers? Yes/No?
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.
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.