r/FoundingFathers

I think one of the things history classes accidentally do is make the Founding Fathers feel untouchable.

Like they were all confident, powerful men standing in a room knowing they were about to create the United States.

But a lot of them genuinely had no idea if they were signing their own death warrants.

I went down a rabbit hole recently while working on a Virtual Wayback project about three signers of the Declaration: Benjamin Rush, Abraham Clark, and Lewis Morris.

And honestly, the personal cost surprised me.

Rush was one of the best-known doctors in the colonies. Supporting independence was not some safe career move for him. He risked destroying his reputation and medical practice by publicly backing what Britain considered open rebellion. Later in life he became obsessed with trying to repair the hatred and division between former founders because the Revolution and the politics afterward completely shattered a lot of friendships.

Lewis Morris was rich. He had status, land, privilege, everything people usually try to protect during unstable times. The British occupied and damaged his estate during the war because of his support for independence. He basically chose revolution knowing full well he had more to lose than most people.

But Abraham Clark’s story was the one I couldn’t stop thinking about.

Clark wasn’t one of the elite famous founders people usually talk about. He was known as “the poor man’s signer” because he pushed for ordinary farmers and common people politically. During the Revolution, two of his sons were captured by the British and imprisoned aboard the Jersey prison ship.

Those prison ships were horrific. Disease, starvation, abuse, overcrowding. Thousands died on them.

From what I’ve read, the British basically hinted that his sons could receive better treatment if Clark backed away from the revolutionary cause.

He refused.

I genuinely don’t know what I would’ve done in that situation.

That’s the side of the Revolution I think gets lost sometimes. These weren’t symbols yet. They were people making decisions while terrified, angry, uncertain, and risking things that were deeply personal.

We ended up making a new Virtual Wayback video/conversation about these three signers and what they sacrificed after signing the Declaration.

VIDEO: https://youtube.com/shorts/-03nB6e_SkQ

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/17nhFhoEU8/

https://www.tiktok.com/@virtualwayback/video/7641997557614267655

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYkMuyTpGT3/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

BLOG: https://virtualwayback.com/blog/price-of-a-signature

You can also talk with them yourself here: Virtual Wayback

Would you still sign the Declaration if you knew it could destroy your family, career, property, and future?

Image Source: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/-1gAAOSwOL9hFu-b/s-l500.jpg

Note that I couldn't find the original link to the source on eBay anywhere, but luckily, I saved the link of this image before eBay doesn't have it again.

Source for the Anecdote: https://books.google.com/books?id=N0JRvfAIUFwC&printsec=copyright#v=onepage&q&f=false (Presidential Anecdotes By Paul F. Boller, Page 53)

A lot of people know the famous names behind the Declaration of Independence, but some of the most important stories belong to men almost nobody talks about anymore.

Caesar Rodney from Delaware was seriously ill in 1776. He suffered from asthma and what was likely facial cancer, severe enough that he often covered part of his face with a green silk scarf. Delaware’s delegation was split on independence, and without him, the colony probably would have voted against breaking from Britain. When he got word that Congress was deadlocked, Rodney rode through a thunderstorm overnight from Dover to Philadelphia, arriving exhausted just in time to cast the deciding vote for independence.

Thomas Lynch Jr. has an equally strange story. He was one of the youngest signers of the Declaration, but he was already physically deteriorating by his mid-20s after contracting malaria during military service. He actually entered Congress because his father, Thomas Lynch Sr., suffered a stroke and became too ill to continue. Father and son briefly served together in Congress before the elder Lynch became completely incapacitated.

What’s even more surprising is how tragic Lynch Jr.’s story became afterward. His health kept declining, and a few years later he disappeared at sea with his wife while sailing to Europe. Nobody knows exactly what happened to them.

Both men were wealthy, respected, and had plenty to lose. Neither was in good health. But both still chose to support independence at a moment when failure could have cost them everything.

We made a Virtual Wayback episode imagining conversations with both figures based on their documented lives, writings, and actions.

Video: https://youtube.com/shorts/JgVoBsZZiCc

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYXvjX0NzEq/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

https://www.tiktok.com/@virtualwayback/video/7640203027424627986?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18Xtk5xXMw/

You can also talk with Caesar Rodney and Thomas Lynch Jr. yourself at Virtual Wayback and ask your own questions about their lives, decisions, and the American Revolution.

I often see the first image online as the Federalist logo but Wikipedia lists the second image, just wondering if they were both used or if one is historical and one made up later or if both were made up later.