Independence Day

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Tomorrow is Independence Day, the most sacred of American holidays,
for on this day, twenty two hundred and forty nine
years ago, our country was born. What truly happened on
July fourth, seventeen seventy six, well fifty six men dipped
the quill of a turkey feather into a bottle of
ink and scribbled their name on a death warrant. The

(00:22):
last line reads, we mutually pledged to each other our lives,
our fortunes, and our sacred honor. And then one by
one they signed their names, committing an active sedition against
the King of England. They were now fugitives. It was
and remains the greatest act of national courage in the
history of the country, maybe of modern man. Why did

(00:44):
they do it? These were educated men, prominent lawyers, ministers,
land barons, merchants. Their lives were comfortable, their fortunes vast,
and yet they jeopardized it all to birth a nation
where government exists only by the consent of the governed.
Would you do that for our country today? They did?

(01:06):
Just Who were they? John Adams of Massachusetts, Samuel Adams
of Massachusetts, Josiah Bartlett of New Hampshire, Carter Braxton of Virginia,
Charles Carroll of Maryland, Samuel Chase of Maryland, Abraham Clark
of New Jersey, George Climer of Pennsylvania, William Ellery of

(01:26):
Rhode Island, William Floyd of New York, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania,
Eldridge Gary of Massachusetts, Button Gwinette of Georgia, Lyman Hall
of Georgia, John Hancock of Massachusetts, Benjamin Harrison of Virginia,
John Hart of New Jersey, North Carolina's Joseph Hughes, South
Carolina's Thomas Hayward, North Carolina's William Hooper, Rhode Island's Stephen Hopkins,

(01:51):
Francis Hopkins Son of New Jersey, Samuel Huntington of Connecticut,
Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, Francis Lightfoot Lee of Virginia, Richard
Henry Lee of Virginia, Francis Lewis of New York, Philip
Livingston of New York, Thomas lynch Junior of South Carolina,
Thomas McKean of Delaware, Arthur Middleton of South Carolina, Lewis

(02:16):
Morris of New York, Robert Morris and John Morton of Pennsylvania.
Thomas Nelson of Virginia, William Packe of Maryland, Robert treat
Payne of Massachusetts, John penn of North Carolina, George Reid
and Cesar Rodney of Delaware, George Ross of Pennsylvania, Benjamin
Ross of Pennsylvania, Edward Rutledge of South Carolina, Roger Sherman

(02:40):
of Connecticut, James Smith of Pennsylvania, New Jersey's Richard Stockton,
Maryland's Thomas Stone, Pennsylvania's George Taylor, New Hampshire's Matthew Thornton,
Georgia's George Walton, New Hampshire's William Whipple, Connecticut's William Williams,
Pennsylvania's James Wilson, New New Jerseys John Witherspoon, Oliver Walcott

(03:03):
off Connecticut, and George Wythe of Virginia. These were fifty
six real people, flesh and blood, with loving families and
dear friends, who built everything they had with their bare hands.
Nine of the fifty six lost their lives fighting for it.
Seventeen of them lost every penny and every parcel of property.
William Ellery's entire estate was burned to the ground by

(03:25):
the British. Francis Lewis's wife was captured and died in
a British prison. Livingstone's entire estate plundered, died in abject poverty.
New Jersey's heart signed, and then rushed home to be
by his dying wife. The British forced them to flee.
He never saw any of his thirteen children again. Morris
gave his entire fortune to finance the revolution was never repaid.

(03:47):
Nelson of Virginia lived in Yorktown, which was the war's
final battle. The American guns were shelling the British army positions.
When Nelson noticed that they were sparing his considerable house
just then, he personally order the cannon to be trained
on it. Nelson was no less willing to sacrifice than
any of his fellow Virginians. He loaned the country all

(04:08):
of his two million dollar estate and was never repaid.
All of the members of the South Carolina delegation were
captured by the British at Charleston, beaten, humiliated, finally released
to their plantations, only to find them burned to the ground.
John Adams house was looted. Each had committed high treason.
It was as if you and I were to renounce

(04:28):
our citizenship. Today we look back now two hundred and
forty nine years, knowing how it turned out. But these
men had no premonition. In fact, their wisdom was lost
on the reality that this was likely. The British would prevail.
The English Empire stretched across two oceans, enjoyed the greatest
army and most robust economy on the globe, and yet

(04:52):
not a single one renigged on their pledge to stand
in support of the declaration. Not one of the fifty
six ever recanted, nor did they apologize. It was a
triumph of courage. They gave all so that we will
be free.