Were all the signers of the Declaration of Independence nice people?

In this day and age of clarity and transparency all aided by the internet’s many search engines, how would our founding forefathers measure up to the scrutiny of a background check, search for criminal records, credit checks, what they’ve posted on Facebook, what adult websites they frequent or using the wrong email server? I just watched a Democratic candidate president debate in which former VP Joe Biden was vilified for associating himself with past congress members with racial tendencies. John Adams defended in court the British Regulars that opened fire on a crowd in event called the Boston Massacre. All of the soldiers walked except 2 and they were branded on the thumb as first time offenders of British law as a reduced sentence from the death penalty. Seems similar…Adams was a prickly sort and didn’t have a lot of friends.

His cousin Sam Adams was a political firebrand but couldn’t make a buck to save his life. Some one kindly donated a suit from him to wear to Philadelphia for the Declaration signing as he was not a man of means. There are persistent rumors that Sam Adams used his “bully boys” — young men fond of rum– to incite the Massacre that night. Rumor has it he gave them cash to buy drinks on the promise to harass the occupying soldiers with insults, errant snowballs, etc. One may call him very goal oriented and a leader. Nice guy? Americans may think so– rest of the world maybe not so much.

Lesser known Dr. Josiah Bartlett from NH had established himself as a thoughtful physician and politician. He was a colonel in the militia, later governor and supreme court justice for NH. He was the second signer of the Declaration and had a hand in drafting some of the other documents. Nice guy? Even after being elected governor, people would still come up to him and say “got this rash on my leg Doc. What do you think of it?” No doubt a good guy. Am I biased as I am from the Granite State? Maybe..

Carter Braxton was born wealthy, married money, owned plantations and slaves and ships etc. Nice guy as a slave owner…I think not. He lent a l ot of his own money to the cause, sold ammo to try to profit from the war, bought privateers to make a little $$ back but the war really took him down financially. The British destroyed some of his plantations, seized some of his property. In contrast, 2 of his grandsons fought against the slave trade legislatively. He invested heavily in the war effort and really got nothing for it. Braxton died broke in 1797. Nice guy…probably not but the Americans probably would’ve been hard pressed to find a guy who bet with his wallet so hard.

Gordon Carroll was Irish catholic raised by Jesuits and further educated abroad. Total gentleman planter from Maryland, he wrote anonymously in the local paper support the rebellion. He was the last signer to pass away. Nice person? He did own slaves but in 1800 he was the president of the leading anti slavery group that had the agenda of shipping all the slaves back to Africa. As a gentleman farmer he used slave labor but diversified his business holdings to banking, land, canals and other endeavors so his need for slaves probably diminished as he made a living on the aforementioned industries.

Was the next signer Samuel Chase a good egg? Not if you ask Thomas Jefferson who tried with all his power to impeach Chase as an associate justice to the Supreme Court. Chase was a federalist to the core and made decisions based on his doctrine which made every Jeffersonian democrat want to wave their Jeffersonian wand and purge Chase from the court. They failed but really as history goes that’s probably the biggest black mark as a nice person against Judge Chase.

The next 2 signers were awesome people! Abraham Clark of NJ and George Clymer by all accounts neither owned slaves and actually fought for the rights of everyone. Clark was an atty for poor people and Clymer worked hard for the common soldier in the Revolution even went to Valley Forge in the winter of 1777 with supplies etc. Clark had 2 sons in the continental army who were captured, beaten, and tortured. Clark tried to get them better treatment. The British said if he renounced signing the Declaration and the patriot cause they would spare their lives. He refused; both sons survived the war. Clymer worked to reform the penal system and abolish the death penalty after the war along with other humanitarian efforts to provide schools for people of color. Both very nice people!

William Ellery was another wonderful guy. Helping to found Brown University, he also worked hard legislatively to abolish slavery as a judge on the Supreme Court of Rhode Island. Nice fella.

That’s all for now. There’s more to come