by AV Horton

Unknown to AV Horton and myself most of the following was written by Rush Limbaugh Jr. (Rush Limbaugh's father), and was published in "The Limbaugh Letter" July 1996 edition. Although this story has been around the internet for some time nether myself or AV Horton realized that Rush Limbaugh Jr. had written most of this piece until during the week of 07/02/00 when Rush Limbaugh lamented the fact that his father was not being given credit for the speech. 

The original speech was titled: "Our lives, our fortunes, our sacred honor"
by Rush H. Limbaugh, Jr. The Original speech in it's entirety can be viewed at www.rushlimbaugh.com. We at Ournation urge you to visit the site and read the original.

AB Dawson

Five signers of the Declaration of Independence were captured by the British, charged with treason, and were tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost sons, who were 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.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists, eleven were merchants, and nine were farmers and large plantation owners. Each and every one of them understood that the penalty for signing the Declaration 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 ultimately, died in rags.

Thomas McKearn was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and kept his family in hiding. His worldly possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandal or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the Battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr. found that the British General Cornwallis had taken over his home as a headquarters. Nelson quietly urged General George Washington to attack. The Nelson home was destroyed and he died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home destroyed. The British jailed his wife where 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 gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in the forests and in caves. He finally returned to his home to find that his wife was dead and his children vanished. He died a few weeks later.

Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.

These stories are typical of the sacrifices of the American Revolution. These men were not wild eyed, rowdy ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of education and means. They all had security, but they placed a higher value on liberty and freedom. They stood tall, straight, and unwavering as they pledged "And for the support of this Declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."

At great personal expense, these brave patriots gave you and me a free and independent America. They were British subjects, prior to the signing, and they chose to fight their own government in order to replace it with something superior – the Constitutional Republic that you and I may enjoy.

Enjoy it to the fullest but do not take it for granted. The Great American Adventure was not free to the founders. It will not be free to you and me. The system is solidly in place, but is being continuously and systematically undermined by those who would dump our great nation and our citizens into tyranny under a one world socialist government. We must fight and defeat this movement – at all cost.