Whatever happened to the Founding Fathers of the United States of America?

I love to watch stories about history...any history. It's not always accurate and it's not very pretty most of the time but it's passionate and it's interesting to see how a country was made or how a country was changed.
This morrow will be the celebration of our nations' independence of Brittain and as a history buff I loved watching about our founding fathers; the men that made the laws we have today. These men risked everything so that we may have the freedoms that we have now.
Here is an exerpt from an article that I found on the men that wrote the laws that would become the Constitution of our nation.....enjoy and be thankful that we didn't have to be them!


What Happened To Our Founding Fathers?

Have you ever wondered 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 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. 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. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart. Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.....


When you read about these men remember that they were considered traitors because we were ALL British citizens at this time and to go against the law was grounds for having your property seized and to be imprisoned or killed!
So when you are out enjoying your day off with a picnic and thinking about how great it is to be American....remember that it took a lot of blood to get these freedoms we all take for granted.....
And while you think about this ask yourself....were these men right to do what they did? Or do you think that it was all for nothing? And do you think politicians now think about these brave men when they twist the Constitution into whatever they want it to be?