Thomas McKean moved 5 times in 3 years
Declaration signer Thomas McKean was hunted by the British, forced to move his family five times in three years, and died penniless.
Snapshot · The Charlie Kirk Show
Giving Everything on the Altar of Liberty: Charlie at Dream City Church
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Jul 5, 2026
Where this was said
The Price They Paid: Stories of the Signers
At 13:40 · chapter starts 12:10
This is the most emotionally charged section of the sermon. Kirk moves through a roll call of forgotten signers: William Ellery, who watched the British burn his home while his children were forced to watch; Lewis Morris, whose estate was plundered and cattle driven off; Carter Braxton, who died in debt before the war ended; Thomas McKean, hunted by the British and forced to move five times in three years; Abraham Clark, whose two sons were captured and tortured on prison ships; John Hart, who fled into the woods while his wife died and his thirteen children were scattered, never to be reunited. Francis Lewis's wife was imprisoned, tortured, and died. Richard Stockton was starved into signing a loyalty oath. Kirk's point is emphatic: they did this by choice. They went looking for this level of suffering because they valued being right before God, not right before King George.
The Signers Who Lost Everything
William Ellery watched the British burn his home. Francis Lewis's wife was imprisoned, tortured, and died shortly after release. John Hart fled into the woods while his wife died and his 13 children were scattered — and he never saw them again. These men chose this suffering. It didn't happen to them; they walked into it.
John Hart's 13 kids scattered
Declaration signer John Hart fled into the woods; his wife died while he was on the run, his 13 children were scattered, and he never saw them again.
Only 1/3 supported the war
At the time of the Declaration, only one-third of colonists supported independence; one-third were neutral and one-third were loyal to Britain.
Only 3% actually fought
Of all colonists, only 3% ended up fighting in the Revolutionary War, with an even smaller fraction driving the cause forward.
Why They Did It: Right Before God, Not King George
Why would men risk their fortunes, families, and lives for a cause with near-impossible odds? Kirk's answer is simple and unambiguous: they valued being right before God, not right before King George. That was the only reason. Faith — not political theory, not economic interest — drove the founding.
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