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56 great risk-takers
By Jeff Jacoby
Copyright 2000 Boston Globe
On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress voted 12-0 -- New York abstained -- in favor of Richard Henry Lee's resolution "that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States."
On July 4, the Declaration of Independence drafted by Thomas Jefferson -- heavily edited by Congress -- was adopted without dissent. On July 8, the Declaration was publicly proclaimed in Philadelphia. On July 15, Congress learned that the New York Legislature had decided to endorse the Declaration. On Aug. 2, a parchment copy was presented to the Congress for signature. Most of the 56 men who put their name to the document did so that day.
And then?
We tend to forget that to sign the Declaration of Independence was to commit an act of treason -- and the punishment for treason was death. To publicly accuse George III of "repeated injuries and usurpations," to announce that Americans were therefore "Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown," was a move fraught with danger -- so much so that the names of the signers were kept secret for six months.
They were risking everything, and they knew it. That is the meaning of the Declaration's soaring last sentence:
"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."
Most of the signers survived the war; several went on to illustrious careers.
Two of them became presidents of the United States, and among the others were future vice presidents, senators, and governors. But not all were so fortunate.
Nine of the 56 died during the Revolution, and never tasted American independence.
Five were captured by the British.
Eighteen had their homes -- great estates, some of them - looted or burnt by the enemy.
Some lost everything they owned.
Two were wounded in battle.
Two others were the fathers of sons killed or captured during the war.
"Our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor." It was not just a rhetorical flourish.
We all recognize John Hancock's signature, but who ever notices the names beneath his? William Ellery, Thomas Nelson, Richard Stockton, Button Gwinnett, Francis Lewis -- to most of us, these are names without meaning.
But each represents a real human being, some of whom paid dearly "for the support of this Declaration" and American independence.
Lewis Morris of New York, for example, must have known when he signed the Declaration that he was signing away his fortune. Within weeks, the British ravaged his estate, destroyed his vast woodlands, butchered his cattle, and sent his family fleeing for their lives.
Another New Yorker, William Floyd, was also forced to flee when the British plundered his property. He and his family lived as refugees for seven years without income. The strain told on his wife; she died two years before the war ended.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, an aristocratic planter who had invested heavily in shipping, saw most of his vessels captured by the British navy. His estates were largely ruined, and by the end of his life he was a pauper.
The home of William Ellery, a Rhode Island delegate, was burned to the ground during the occupation of Newport.
Thomas Heyward Jr., Edward Rutledge, and Arthur Middleton, three members of the South Carolina delegation, all suffered the destruction or vandalizing of their homes at the hands of enemy troops. All three were captured when Charleston fell in 1780, and spent a year in a British prison.
"Our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."
Thomas Nelson Jr. of Virginia raised $2 million for the patriots' cause on his own personal credit. The government never reimbursed him, and repaying the loans wiped out his entire estate. During the battle of Yorktown, his house, which had been seized by the British, was occupied by General Cornwallis. Nelson quietly urged the gunners to fire on his own home. They did so, destroying it. He was never again a man of wealth. He died bankrupt and was buried in an unmarked grave.
Richard Stockton, a judge on New Jersey's supreme court, was betrayed by loyalist neighbors. He was dragged from his bed and thrown in prison, where he was brutally beaten and starved. His lands were devastated, his horses stolen, his library burnt. He was freed in 1777, but his health had so deteriorated that he died within five years. His family lived on charity for the rest of their lives.
In the British assault on New York, Francis Lewis's home and property were pillaged. His wife was captured and imprisoned; so harshly was she treated that she died soon after her release. Lewis spent the remainder of his days in relative poverty.
And then there was John Hart. The speaker of the New Jersey Assembly, he was forced to flee in the winter of 1776, at the age of 65, from his dying wife's bedside. While he hid in forests and caves, his home was demolished, his fields and mill laid waste, and his 13 children put to flight. When it was finally safe for him to return, he found his wife dead, his children missing, and his property decimated. He never saw any of his family again and died, a shattered man, in 1779.
The men who signed that piece of parchment in 1776 were the elite of their colonies. They were men of means and social standing, but for the sake of liberty, they pledged it all -- their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. We are in their debt to this day.
Thank you, Jim. God help us that in a media establishment that lies, covers up, and distorts the news every day, an article like this one should get its writer fired.
Thank you muchly for posting this JR. Curious, RUSH today stated his dad wrote the "original" article about these men. I wonder if anyone out there in FR land has a copy of same, and could post it here?
I just got it off www.rushlimbaugh.com. Formatting will take a few minutes.
Thanks...
How crazy has it all become.....
Here it is...
"Our lives, our fortunes, our
sacred honor"
by Rush H. Limbaugh, Jr.
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 has 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 stocking was nothing to them." All discussion 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 dissention. "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.
Much To Lose
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, 9 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."
"Most glorious service"
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 though 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.
Lives, fortunes, honor
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.
And, finally, there is the New Jersey Signer, Abraham Clark.
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 and one of us down through 200 years with the 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." - Rush H. Limbaugh, Jr.
As published in "The Limbaugh Letter" July 1996 edition
THANK YOU!This is GREAT!!!!
Upon hearing of the dismisal of Jeff Jacoby over the "56 great risk-takers" article my first suspect was Rush Limbaugh since he had spent much of the last two weeks trying to convince everyone that he and his late father owned this historical data. After listening to his show on Monday July 10, 2000 I changed my mind and do not believe he played an active role in the dismisal.
I do believe that Rush's constant retoric on the subject for the last two weeks did convince the editors of the Boston Globe that they could get rid of Jeff Jacoby on ethical grounds.
Thanks for all of your conservative help, Rush.
If my dad wrote it, I'd want him to get the credit too.
Two weeks more like two days. Get it right and accurate, or you may end sounding like a Globalist, that employs a barncacle smith or jacoby.
I'd have to give it a little more time than I can spare this evening, but I don't think this is plagiarism. The two articles are distinctly different. It's only natural that there would be some resemblances, since the 56 signers were historical figures and could hardly be changed. Jacoby repeats some of the facts, but no one can copyright historical facts.
The basic thesis, that the founders took a great risk, is historical too. Kenneth Roberts makes the same point about a variety of American patriots in his novels. On its face, this is not plagiarism. And Jacoby can hardly be blamed for rehearsing this formerly well-known national story once again in connection with the Fourth of July. Only a liberal would find anything all that "unusual" about the thesis of the article--that there is a price for heroism. It sends shivers down your spine only because these were real heroes who paid the price. There's no copyright on that, either. It may seem strange to the sons of the 60s, but it would not have seemed strange to generations of their ancestors.
Does anyone have the Patriot picture with George W.'s face superimposed over Mel's?
You'll have to ask DoughtyOne.
I said two week and I meant two weeks, you occasional listener.
"Thanks for all of your conservative help, Rush. "
At least I never heard Rush say throw Elian to the sharks like you did. Care to make me quote you? Thanks for your conservative help...
Here it is... I found it. click here
Cancelled my Boston Globe subscription today. And the green Globe mailbox is out of the ground and next to the trash. Conveniently, trash day is tomorrow.
E-mailed Jeff Jacoby and told him as well. I will NEVER renew the Boston Globe again.
Your dad didn't write it and Limbaugh's father got his information from over 200 years of historical writings.
Don't get me wrong. It was a beautiful speech and Rush should be proud of his father.
Thank you Jim for posting a thread dealing with authentic American heroes. There have been too many plastic imitations running around lately.
This has nothing to do with the "Fourth of July" or the "56 Great Risk-Takers" but here goes.
For the pain and division that this Elian matter caused this country it would have been better if he had been eaten by sharks.
Are you happy now? Are you hoping that Jim Robinson will ban me? If so so be it.
I saved this to disk when I found it last year, and posted it to a local forum on the morning of the 4th. Many people responded with, “To bad we don’t have any politicians like that today!” – or words to that effect. My answer? These great, intelligent, and very brave men were not politicians!
They were radicals and revolutionaries, but not politicians, and few entered politics after the revolt.
Thank God for radicals and revolutionaries.
WHAT is the matter with you??
Did you skip your meds, hon?
I don't want to start anything, but don't you think human life is more important than a media flap?
And YOU, stop baiting Bloody Reaper!
Go to your rooms, both of you! :-)
I don't want to start anything
Yes you do. Now STOP it! You people are messing up a perfectly nice, noble thread.
No, I don't. His comments were a bit shocking.
Please. We don't need this here.
"And YOU, stop baiting Bloody Reaper!"
Some fish ain't to smart, is that my fault? After all, he wanted and still does want to throw Elian to the sharks... My cats were smarter than that.........
I agree with you, but just didn't think you'd get anywhere. This stuff just seems to escalate.
No meds but this Jeff Jacoby dismisal has really got me hot.
Well, I'm advocating ignoring him. But of course it's up to you. I've just found that these Elian fights don't ever get anywhere and it's really depressing.
I guess my best move is to exit this here thread and leave the rest of you to deal with each other.
Ok, I understand. Me too. Just please lay off the Elian stuff. It's a sore spot with a lot of people, to say the least.
I see your point. I would have thought these old enmities would have died down. I guess not.
Bump for Jacoby finding a better job.
Bump for Jacoby finding a better job.
I second that!!!
Sorry Jim, I never meant for this to happen. No disrespect for your article. It is a beautiful piece. Over and out.
"Well, I'm advocating ignoring him. But of course it's up to you. I've just found that these Elian fights don't ever get anywhere and it's really depressing."
Somtimes that's the way it is in wars. Nice of you to give up becuase it depressing....... Guess I am not p.c.
Guess I am not p.c.
Well, I'm glad you are not. I think!
Thanks, guys, for both versions. The more it is out there the better ---- both for the message of the bravery of these men, but also for keeping the Jeff Jacoby story alive.
The selective action by The Boston Globe must be publicized! I dearly hope this comes back at them in a big way and I hope there is something bigger and better out there for Jacoby --- someplace where his voice will be appreciated. The Globe is the loser here.
How crazy has it all become.....
BTTT!
BUMP!
FYI. Originally posted on FR HERE after Drudge made mention of it the Sunday before last.
I really do not believe RUSH could hold much sway with a liberal rag like the Boston Globe. As for Jeff Jacoby's dismissal? I think his goose was already cooked after his 1995 denounciation of communism. I have his Dec.7 1995 To The Victims of Communism, Lest We Forget, article. He lists the numerous pogroms/atrocities/murders of communism. Ever heard the saying,"One foot in the grave, the other on a banana peel?" Well, these anti-communist articles caused the Boston G to dig his grave. They were just waiting for a slip-up.
Yesterday RUSH seemed to pretty much side with Jacoby. Isn't it interesting that his temporary dismissal expires shortly AFTER the Nov. elections. I know, just another coincidence...
No way in heck is this column plagiarized! I've seen the email about the signers and the elder Limbaugh's version of the story, and this column by Jacoby is by no stretch of the imagination a case of plagiarism.
As Joseph Farah said, it's derivative of other works but clearly does not plagiarize them.
I encourage the Boston Globe's editorial board to start wearing brown shirts...so we'll recognize them for the fascists they are.
Donozark said: "I have his Dec.7 1995 To The Victims of Communism, Lest We Forget, article."
Oh, please, do post a link or a quote here?
I am writing to the Globe, as well. I don't subscribe, and never did, they have always been too obviously liberally biased for my taste. I buy the thing only when I'm out of a job and need the classified, or when I've run out of local freebies and need paper to start my woodstove of a cold winter's night.
I have the hard copy. No scanner.
Here's a link I found for the article:
http://www.bigeye.com/jacoby.htm
Why is it that no one has dared to accuse the Boston Globe of Anti-Semitism for their shabby treatment of Mr. Jacoby?
I will bet the "The anti-smoking cartel" (aka Destroyer's of Democracy)are behind this. LibertyWeeps Unless we put medical freedom into the U.S. Constitution, the time will come when medicine will organize itself into an undercover dictatorship. --Dr. Benjamin Rush, Signer of Declaration of Independence
Regardless of the original author, is it true? Isn't that more important than who wrote it and when?
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.
In fact, Hart's wife died 2 months before the British invaded. The Redcoats were forced out of his home after 2 months. They did not demolish it, and Hart returned and lived there as a Member of Congress. He was still living in it when he died of kidney stones in 1789.
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.
In fact, Nelson's home still stands to this day, part of Colonial National Park in Yorktown. With extensive land holdings in Virginia, Nelson was far from bankrupt when he died.
Hm, interesting... do you have a source?
BTW Welcome to FR.
As I understand it, Jacoby knew that some of the information in the other versions of this essay was blatantly untrue, and he wanted to correct it.
Here's how you do a link:
I've done a little trickery to make the codes show up- Do it exactly as you see it below:
<A HREF="http://www.bigeye.com/jacoby.htm">Link to the Jacoby article at bigeye.com that you mentioned</A>.
If you do it correctly, it will look like this:
Link to the Jacoby article at bigeye.com that you mentioned.
Thanks for posting the version from RL.com. Regarding the issue of our freedoms, when I tried to visit that site today I discovered the very large corp. I work for in its infinite PC wisdom has decided to block all access to RL.com trough its firewall. (They should never do something as foolish as that to a responsible programmer. I have yet begun to ...)
You be careful, now! :-)
Thank you, Jim, for posting this. You have done us all a great service. As you are no doubt aware, the Boston Globe has spared no effort to purge this piece from the Web.
This is a blatant attempt by the Globe to silence one of the most articulate voices of conservatism during the Presidential campaign. Do the math. This is July. In four months it will be . . . . November! And the election will have been held.
Perhaps it's time to change the slogan of the New York Times (which, as we know, owns the Globe) from "All the News That's Fit to Print" to "All the Propaganda We Choose to Print."
Now the opinion (and, for the most part, the news) pages of the Globe will carry exclusively pro-Gore propaganda. Just the way the Establishment press wants it.
After the recent Mexican election, the liberal media are scared to death of another honest election here in the good old U. S. of A.
The source is "Lives of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence", by Charles A. Goodrich (1829)
Jim McNulty
Scotland
George,
If he wanted to correct it, why did he re-cite the false details I mentioned in my first message?
I think the idea of it being plagiarism is nonsense. he is obviously entitled to re-use material in order to write a fresh story, but it does seem to be badly researched.
Jim McNulty
Scotland
Thank you...
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