Mark Cole
Before the American Revolution, Carter Braxton of Virginia was a very wealthy man. His family had done very well in Virginia for several generations. He was, some might have thought, a natural born patrician and an aristocrat. He had even lived in England for two years. There was nothing for Carter Braxton to gain by rebelling against the British crown. There was plenty for him to lose.
But when Carter Braxton began serving in the Virginia House of Burgesses, he cast his lot with those men in that body – men like Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee – who were the strongest supporters of American independence.
After he was elected to the Continental Congress, he sided again with the patriots and gladly placed his name on the Declaration of Independence, pledging his life, fortune and sacred honor to the cause.
It wouldn’t be long before Braxton’s resolve would be tested. His wealth was badly needed by the revolution. He promptly lent the struggling rebels the colossal sum of 10,000 pounds sterling. Meanwhile, several of his plantations were spoiled by British troops and his commercial ships were destroyed at sea by the British Navy.
His loan may have saved the revolutionaries. But it could never be repaid and with the destruction of his other assets and enterprises, by 1786, Braxton was finished financially and left his beloved family estate for a simple and modest quarters in Richmond, Virginia, where he lived out the remainder of his life, deeply in debt.
He was humbled, but he was not humiliated.
At the beginning of the American revolution, Braxton was a very wealthy man committed to the cause of American independence. At the end of his life, Braxton was a poor man. But he was also part of an independent nation and he had played a major role in that young nation obtaining its independence.
Could American have won independence without him? Maybe. Fortunately for the revolutionaries of his day – and fortunately for us– that was never tried.
Unfortunately for King George III, when men like Carter Braxton pledged their life, fortune and sacred honor for the cause of independence, they meant it.
Check out Mark’s book: Lives, Fortunes, Sacred Honor: The Men Who Signed the Declaration of Independence
