The document reflects a sacrifice that its 56 signers chose to make.
By Matt Paprocki | Illinois Policy Institute President and CEO
Unexpectedly, I heard myself say, “I would sign that document. I hope you’ll join me.”
A few months ago, I was with my family in Washington, D.C., standing in a dark room in the National Archives, looking at the Declaration of Independence.
I told my kids about the sacrifice that each of those men, and their families, made when they signed that document.
My then 8-year-old daughter, Fiona, asked me,
“Dad, would you have signed that document?”
“Of course I would,” I thought. Every American would, because we know how this movie ends.
For those 56 signers, the question wasn’t easy. They were standing up against the most powerful army in the world — for an experiment in self-government.
Declaring independence was risky. They were risking their fortunes. They were risking their honor. They were risking their lives. And they were putting their families at risk as well.
As I looked down at the names on the Declaration, I realized these were more than just signatures from 250 years ago. The signers were husbands and fathers. They were business owners and farmers.
They were us.
Looking at the document, I realized the Declaration of Independence isn’t just a historical document. Every generation is asked the same question the signers were asked 250 years ago.
Would we sign the document?
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