THE RUN DRUGS OUT OF TOWN RUN'S PREVENTION NEWS
 

SPECIAL EDITION

A key element of drug abuse prevention is information which allows for communication.  When that doorway is open it also provides for prevention in other areas.  It is also the foundation of Jeffersonian Democracy.

Two hundred and thirty years ago 56 of our richest and best educated saw fit to sign the Declaration of Independence from King George and British rule.  Sadly most of us have never read that document or Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" that led the colonists to call for change. 

Even if you do remember reading either of these in the eight grade or a college history course, today is a good day to take the time and read them again or for the first time and recall why John Hancock, et al. saw fit to pledge their "Lives, Fortunes and Sacred Honor."

After you have done so consider this, of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence;

• Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.
• Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.
• Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.
• Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds and hardships of the Revolutionary War.

What kind of men were they?

• Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.
• Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.
• Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His     possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.
• Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.
• At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.
• Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few
  months.
• John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in
  forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.

Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't.

So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the
price they paid.

 

One more chance! Take the time to read the Declaration of Independence and "Common Sense" and see why Democracy works in this country.

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