GOD BLESS AMERICA

Discussion in 'Bards Corner' started by Cloudwalker, Jul 5, 2016.

  1. Cloudwalker

    Cloudwalker The genuine, original, one and only Cloudwalker Staff Member

    In honor of July 4

    GOD BLESS AMERICA​

    America the Beautiful. What a wonderful statement. Yes America is beautiful from Sea to Shining sea. Have you walked the tree clad Smoky Mountains? Have you gazed in wonder at the majesty of the Grand Canyon? Have you stretched up your eyes and tried to measure the height of a Giant Redwood? Have you traveled through the fields of corn as they stood ripening in the field? Have you seen the wheat gently wave back and forth in the breeze? Have you seen the sun rise over the desert and had the beauty take your breath away? Have you stood on the banks of the mighty Mississippi as it rolled constantly to the sea? Have you seen the Rocky Mountains as they stretch their rocky fingers to the sky? Have you visited our Oceans and heard the waves ceaselessly crash into the shore? Have you feasted on Jambalia and Gumbo in New Orleans as you listened to the jazz? Have you seen the waves crash against the rocks in Maine as you dined on lobster fresh from the ocean? Have you crossed Lake Michigan and realized that you can’t see the shore? Have you panned for gold or danced with Native Americans in Alaska while listening to stories of the gold rush? Have you heard the crack of the bat at a baseball game? Have you visited Orlando and become a kid again in Disney? Have you walked the fields at Gettysberg and sensed the ghosts that linger there? Have you stood by Plymouth Rock and thought of the Pilgrims and their struggles in this new land? Have you stood in Fords Theater and quietly shed a tear? Have you walked the halls of the National archive and gazed in wonder at The Constitution of this great land? Have you seen the Declaration of Independence and read the signatures at the bottom?
    I don’t know how much you know of the Declaration of Independence. But from now on you will be able to quote at least one line. It is at the end where it reads “We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.” This is the story of the men who signed that pledge. The 56 names were kept secret for some time because they knew that the best they could hope for if they were captured was to be hung as traitors. 5 were captured and tortured as traitors before they died. 12 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.
    Carter Braxton of Virginia was a wealthy planter and trader. He 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 he battle of Yorktown Thomas Nelson Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over Nelsons own home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.
    John Hankock, history remembers more because of a quirk of fate. But one fateful night he stood on a hill outside Boston and cried “Burn Boston! Though it makes John Hankock a beggar, if the public good requires it.” He fulfilled the pledge
    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 dying bedside. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid waist. 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.
    These men were not wild-eyed, rabble rousing ruffians. They were soft spoken men. Men of means and education. Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants. Nine were farmers and large plantation owners. But they valued liberty more. They stood tall, strait and unwavering and 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.” And they fulfilled that pledge.
     
  2. devilslayer365

    devilslayer365 Wazzup?!

    I appreciate your effort in this piece. Overall, the United States is the only place I want to live. We still have it good in many ways, however, in other ways we're sinking as a country. I really fear for my country this next election. I think we're going to go further and further to the left. Not liking that one bit...
     

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