Our Lives, Our Fortunes, and Our Sacred Honor

Honor Requires Courage

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“Truth requires sacrifice.”

"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor." 

In 1776, fifty-six men gathered in Philadelphia for the Second Continental Congress. After years of failed attempts at reconciliation, they voted to break away from Great Britain and sign the Declaration of Independence, risking their lives and their property to establish a new nation conceived in liberty. 

Before they signed, they pledged to one another their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence. After all, such a document was considered treasonous, and under British law, treason was punishable by death. 

The first thing the signers pledged was their reliance upon Divine Providence. Earlier in the Declaration, they appealed to the "Supreme Judge of the world." Later, in his Notes on the State of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson wrote that the liberties of a nation rely upon "a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God." If liberty is endowed by our Creator, then defending it is an obligation. 

The Founders pledged their lives to preserving liberty. 

Every signer understood the consequences before putting pen to paper. Richard Stockton was dragged from his bed and imprisoned. Thomas McKean spent much of the Revolution in hiding. John Hart left the side of his dying wife while his children fled for their lives. 

The Founders pledged their fortunes to preserving liberty. 

Thomas Nelson Jr., after the British occupied his home during the Siege of Yorktown, gave the Continental Army permission to fire upon it rather than allow it to remain in enemy hands. Twelve signers had their homes looted or burned, while their businesses were destroyed and their property was confiscated. 

Finally, the Founders pledged their sacred honor to preserving liberty. 

In the eighteenth century, honor was inseparable from character. To them, it meant remaining faithful to your principles despite consequences. 

Most Americans today will never be asked to sacrifice their lives or their fortunes for the truth. But today, many young people are asked to sacrifice their sacred honor in defending truth.

Standing by your convictions can cost friendships and popularity. It can cause criticism and ostracization. While these sacrifices are not comparable to those made by the Founders, they are sacrifices nonetheless. 

Today, the United States is experiencing an identity crisis. Many students are taught to view America's founding through its failures rather than its principles. The Founding Fathers were imperfect men, but the Declaration does not depend upon the perfection of those who wrote it. Its central claim, that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, endures across generations. 

President Ronald Reagan famously warned that "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction." His words remain as true today as when he first spoke them. Young conservatives should know that history to understand the inheritance they have received and the responsibility that comes with it. 

Truth requires sacrifice. The fifty-six men who signed the Declaration understood that and accepted the cost because they believed that Truth was worth defending.

Our generation must continue to defend the blessings of liberty that we inherited.