June 26,
2000
Click here EVERY week to discover the most
useful and informative websites we can find to help you get things done faster
and smarter. With the 4th of July just a week away, be sure to check out the
trivia at the end of this week's tips and remember, don't forget to fly your
flag!
CHEAP SHIPPING:
Unless you're locked into UPS, Fed Ex or one of the other big package delivery
services, check here to find the best rates!
TRACK YOUR SHIPMENT: All
the major shippers have a place on their website to track your package, but
this site tracks them all.
MONITOR EVENTS: This is very
cool. How would you like to be notified by email that an airfare hits a certain
price point you're looking for or your favorite seller lists something for
auction? Set up your spies here.
BAD CHECKS: This is for
California only and presently serves most counties from Santa Barbara north,
but here's the place to go when someone writes you a bad check and you need
help from the District Attorney collecting it. Best of all, it's free, but they
are a bit slow.
FAMILY
TRIPS: I don't want to go to Disneyland or Sea World! For advice on just
about everything from penny-pinching in the Pyrenees to trekking in Ladakh,
GORP will point you to parks, trails and activities throughout the United
States and Canada.
Remember, check back here again next week to get
the BEST OF THE BEST!
WHAT HAPPENED TO 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 or
hardships of the Revolutionary War.
They signed and they pledged their
lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. 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. 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. A few weeks later he died from
exhaustion and a broken heart. Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.
Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These
were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means
and education.
They had security, but they valued liberty more.
Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: "For the support of this
declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we
mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our Sacred honor."
They gave you and me a free and independent America. The history books
never told much about what happened in the Revolutionary War. We didn't fight
just the British. We were British subjects at that time, so we fighting our own
government!
Some of us take these liberties too 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. Remember: FREEDOM IS NEVER FREE!
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