Stephen McDowell: The Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence in 1776
>> Stephen McDowell: Welcome to America's Providential History podcast, where we talk about the real story of America and explore the hand of God in our history. Now, here's your host, Stephen McDowell. Hello. I'm glad you're joining us for this edition of America's Providential History podcast. Today we will be exploring the truth about the fourth of July and look at the price that the signers paid. You know, during the first days of July in 1776, the Continental Congress was considering one of the most, historic events of all time. The declaration by 13 colonies to become the new nation of the United States of America. Now, on the issue of independence, the colonies were agree. But a few of the more cautious delegates still weren't sure about the timing. Reverend John Witherspoon, who was a delegate from New Jersey, president of the college of New Jersey, now we know as Princeton University, answered their concerns. As he said, there is a tide in the affairs of men. We perceive it now before us. To hesitate is to consent to our own slavery. That noble instrument should be subscribed to this very morning by every pen in this house. Though these gray hairs must soon descend to the sepulchre, I would infinitely rather that they descend thither by the hand of the executioner than desert at the crisis the sacred cause of my country. The delegates went on to approve the Declaration of Independence. After the announcement of the vote, silence moved over the congress as the men contemplated the magnitude of what they had just done. Some, wept openly while others bowed in prayer. After signing the declaration with his unusually large writing, the president of the Continental Congress, John Hancock, broke the silence by declaring, his Majesty can now read my name without glasses, and he can also double the price on my head. adding to the solemnity of the tense moment, Hancock said, we must be unanimous. There must be no pulling different ways. We must all hang together. Well, Benjamin Franklin responded in his characteristic wit, yes, we must indeed all hang together, or most assuredly, we shall all hang separately. And they did hang together. But even so, many of these signers, as well as tens of thousands of colonists, gave much for their action of seeking independence. They lost their lives, their families, their reputation and their property in order to purchase liberty for themselves. Yes, but even more so for posterity. They had us in mind. You see this? The signers paid a great price. When those 56 men affix their signature to that document, agreed to that document, they weren't thinking, you know, we're going to be famous. we're going to go down in history. They'll read about us in textbooks in the future and celebrate us. the men who signed the Declaration of Independence, no, they were thinking, as Benjamin Rush later worked, that they were signing their own death warrants. They. Because death was a very real possibility. After all, they were fighting the most powerful nation in the world here, just a bunch of farmers in America with no professional army, taking up arms against, again, the mightiest force in the army of. Mightiest force in the world at this time. And so, in the natural, it didn't looked like there was much hope that they might win. But they were standing upon the principles, the rights and liberties they had as British citizens, as Christians and citizens, of the earth. So they weren't thinking, we're going to go down in history, we're going to be famous. They very much realized that if anybody's going to suffer, it's going to be us. Because when they preach, put their signature on that document, they were recording and declaring to the king, here we are the leaders of what the king thought was a rebellion. And that's why when Hancock responded, look, the king can now read my name without glasses and double the price on my head. And there was a large bounty price placed upon the head of these, individuals. And so when Franklin responded to Hancock's admonition, we must all hang together, when he said, if we don't hang together, we most assuredly all hang separately. That was a very real possibility. In fact, as many years later, after observing the celebration of the fourth of July in Philadelphia, that Benjamin Rush, he was a signer of the Declaration, the father of medicine in America, very devout Christian, he wrote to his friend John Adams, who was also a signer, and drawing attention to that event that had taken place many years before in Philadelphia, when they signed that document, he wrote to him, said, scarcely a word was said of the solicitude and labors and fears and sorrows and sleepless nights of the men who projected, proposed, defended, and subscribed the Declaration of Independence? Then he asked him, do you recollect the pensive and awful silence which pervaded the house when we were called up one after another to the table of the president of Congress to subscribe what was believed by many at that time to be our own death warrants? The silence and the gloom of the morning was interrupted, I, well, recollect only for a moment by Colonel Harrison of Virginia, who said to Mr. Gerry at the table, I shall have a great advantage over you, Mr. Jerry. When we were all hung for what we are now doing from the size and weight of my body. He was a big, portly man, Harrison was. He said, from the size and weight of my body, I shall die in a few minutes, but from the lightness of your body, you will dance in the air an hour or two before you are dead. The speech procured a transient smile, but it was soon succeeded by the solemnity with which the whole business was conducted. And so, as Rush made clear in this letter to Adams, death was a very real possibility. They thought they were subscribing their own death warrants. And so when those 56 men agreed to that document, signed that declaration, they did so after much thought and consideration. Because, you see, these men had more to lose than anyone in the colonies. They were the brightest minds, had the greatest talents, Many had great wealth, and most had families that they loved dearly. So in signing that document, they weren't considering it as an avenue for fame, glory, or future advancement. They all knew they would be identified above all others by the British as leaders of the rebellion and consequently would be the ones most likely to suffer retribution. They also were very much aware that history was strewn with the bones and blood of freedom fighters. And again, they were up against the greatest military power on earth and so faced a very real chance of losing everything. Every one of these men suffered in some way. Virtually all the men had greater wealth before taking up the cause of liberty than afterwards. You know that nine signers died of wounds or hardships during the revolutionary war. Five were captured or imprisoned, in some cases with brutal treatment. The wives, sons, and daughters of others were killed, jailed, mistreated, persecuted, are left penniless. One signer was driven from his wife's deathbed and lost all his children. The houses of 12 signers were burned to the ground. 17 lost everything that they own. So every signer was prescribed as a traitor. Every one of them was hunted. Anytime the British were nearby, their troops were near. They would go specifically to seek out the homes of the signers and seek to capture the men. And they would destroy their property and m M. Most were driven into flight. Most were, at one time or another, bar from their families or their homes. And during all of this, most were offered immunity, freedom, rewards their property, or, the lives and release of their loved ones just to break their pledge word or take the king's protection. Well, their fortunes were forfeit, but their honor was not, because no signer defected or changed his stand. Throughout those darkest hours. Their honor, like their nation, remained intact. So we should be very thankful that these Principled men were willing to pay the price to purchase liberty. Not so much for them. Many of them never really even experienced the great liberty that was the product of our independence and birth as a new constitutional Christian republic. they really were looking at posterity. They were looking at us. We're the ones that have benefited so much from m. The price that they paid. And so These men, these 56 men, didn't go down in history where we read about them today. In fact, most Americans never even heard of most of these men. They might be able to name four or five of the most prominent signers, but even those they don't really know anything about. And all the others have been lost, in, our memories. But it's vital that we get to know these men, that we understand the principles that they stood upon and that we recognize the great price that was paid for their liberty. And we need to understand what motivated them to be willing to give so much and to give so much.
What was it that motivated colonists to risk everything in order to have freedom
What was it that would motivate them to risk everything in order that they might have freedom? What was it that brought about the events leading to the colonists declaring their independence? Well, John Adams, signer of the Declaration, our second president, a leader in the cause of independence, revealed what he and many others thought as he wrote on that day that the colonists declared their independence. He said, it is the will of heaven that the two countries should be sundered forever. It may be the will of heaven that America shall suffer calamities still more wasting and distresses yet more dreadful. If this be the case. The furnace of affliction produces refinement in states as well as individuals. But I must submit all my hopes and fears to an overruling Providence in which, unfashionable as the faith may be, I firmly believe. See, our founders had a providential view of history. As Adams was looking at all the events that had taken place were taking place. We've recorded so many of the, events in previous podcasts and even began in the last couple of podcasts to look at, miracles that God did during the war, and we'll look at more of those in future podcasts. But he understood that God was at work in history. After all, that's what providence means. It's the superintending of care of God over his creation, where he's directing events in the lives of men and nations to bring about his purposes for mankind and in his purpose for to liberate mankind. As Adam said, it's the will of heaven that the two countries should be asundered. So within God's will he arranged this, these events to bring about his purpose of giving birth to a new nation. A nation built on Christian self government, built upon the principles of the word of God. Not perfect. These men, you know, had problems as well as we have problems today. But they were principled men who thought biblically and understood and looked to discern what is God doing, what is his will. And so he recognized this is the will of heaven. And many times when we follow the, when God's will is being performed, we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It's not always easy. He recognized we may suffer calamities and they did suffer many calamities, many difficulties. But through it all, God accomplished his purpose through his overruling providence. Well John Hancock echoed the reliance upon God and the belief that the destiny of nations is in the hands of God because he had previously made this statement. He said, let us humbly commit our righteous cause to the great Lord of the universe. Let us joyfully leave our concerns in the hands of him who raises up and puts down the empires and kingdoms of the earth as he pleases. And so the founders would have understood God works in history by using men and nations, righteous men and unrighteous men, kingdoms that are seeking to follow God and do his will and others that do not. But God was at work in all of these events. Now Thomas Jefferson was the, drafted the declaration of Independence. He was after the, when the Continental Congress and meeting in June were thinking with discussing it's very likely we're going to declare independence. They set out, chose a committee of five people to go and draft a document. And Thomas Jefferson was then selected from those committee members from Franklin and Adams, others to say, hey, we want you to write this. And in his original draft it contained a recognition of God. In particular, he spoke of the laws of nature, spoke about the existence of a creator, the equality of all men before God. Creator endowed rights and the purpose of government to protect the God given rights of God made man. But there were a few adjustments and additions that the committee made and even the Congress at large made. And their reliance upon God was so universally adhered to among those in America that the Continental Congress insisted it be made clear in that final draft that they added the phrase appealing to the supreme judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions. And they also added the words with the firm reliance upon the protection of divine providence. And so we see the Continental Congress Declaring to the entire world their Christian convictions. Now in future podcast, I'm going to examine biblical principles in the Declaration of Independence. That document is full of biblical ideas, Christian ideas of man and government and the means of resisting tyranny. As the Bible tells us, there are steps to resistance of tyranny. And we're going to look at those and explore the many biblical ideas in that document. But certainly just cursory reading of the document. Even if you don't understand the scores of biblical ideas in the document, nonetheless you see the heart of the founders of America as they spoke about the Creator and Creator endowed rights and the laws of nature, Nature's God. And we see that they directly appeal to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rector multitude of our intentions. And finally, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, they launched off on this, this, this mission to gain their independence. And as we've been discussing in previous couple of previous podcasts and will in the future that God moved miraculously on the behalf the American colonists because he was supporting the cause of liberty, Christian liberty that they were standing upon. And so he gave birth and made sure that our struggle for independence was successful. And so again the Continental Congress wanted to declare to the entire world these are our Christian convictions because the Declaration of Independence is our founding covenant where people agreeing together. And again it's under God because they relied upon him and they appeal to him that this covenant reflects their Christian foundation. So our celebration of the birth of Our Nation on July 4th just coming up in a few days that we're going to be celebrating July 4th and we do every year and it's very appropriate that we do. But but we should be placing God at the very center. You know, we celebrate with fireworks and feasting and join family and friends and certainly this is fine and appropriate to do, but we need to understand the foundation of why we, those the signers and our founders and citizens joined together to fight to gain independence in the first place. They place God at the center because without his guiding hand, our nation would have never come into being. John Adams wrote to Abigail, that the Day of Independence will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward, forevermore. So this fourth of July and every fourth of July, let's follow the advice of John Adams. Let's recognize the great significance, the most memorable epoch in the history of, America. And let us celebrate, this great anniversary with solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty from one end of the continent to the other. As we understand the price the signers paid, as we understand their motives, as we read that document, the Declaration of Independence and explore the biblical ideas, it will help us to do, that very thing. Well, thanks for joining us today on this America's Providential history podcast. As we looked at the significance of the 4th of July and the price that the signers paid, I would point you to our website, providencefoundation.com we actually have this article that you can access the truth about the fourth of July. And, you can read much more about this in our various books that are available there as well so that you can get this story down in your heart, that you can share this story, with others so that we will never forget, why we celebrate the 4th of July and the truth behind the events of July 4th. Well, hope to see you next week. God, bless you.