Five grievances. A dangerous choice. What would you have done?
Tap to Begin
✦ Tap the torch to see it spark ✦
· ❦ ·
July 4, 1776. Philadelphia.
Fifty-six men gather to sign a document that declares their independence from the world's most powerful empire.
They know what signing means. They pledge "our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."
You will read five of their grievances against King George III — the same words they read. After each, you must decide:
would you have risked everything to sign?
Grievance 1 of 5
"
Knowing the cost · what do you choose?
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Grievances You Would Sign For
Every one of the 56 signers said yes to all five — and fifty-two more grievances besides. They signed in full knowledge of what it would cost them.
The Price of a Signature
They Signed. And Then—
Five signers were captured by the British and tortured before they died.
Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost sons in the Continental Army; another had two sons captured.
Nine fought and died from wounds or the hardships of the Revolutionary War.
Carter Braxton saw his ships sunk by the British Navy and sold his home to pay his debts.
Thomas Nelson Jr. urged Washington to shell his own home at Yorktown because British General Cornwallis had occupied it. He died bankrupt.
Francis Lewis's wife was jailed. She died from the hardships of her imprisonment.
John Hart was forced from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their thirteen children fled. He hid in forests and caves before returning to find his wife dead and his children vanished.
· A Breath Between ·
Three Small Wonders
Before the questions — tap each object to hear a story the textbooks often leave out.
The Quill
The Bell
The Rosary
Three to find — then you may begin the questions.
· Knowledge Check ·
Five Questions
To honor what they signed, answer what you have learned. Your score goes in your passport.