But we must remember that the signers of the Declaration were British citizens, not Americans. They were traitors in the eyes of their own government. By signing the Declaration, they executed their death warrants. If they would have lost the war, they would have suffered the same fate at the hands of their own government as did Nathan Hale. Many of them had families and substantial fortunes.
Most people have no real objections to living and dying as slaves.
While they would prefer freedom, it is not sufficiently valuable to them to cause them to risk their lives and fortunes in an attempt to achieve it. I have a profound revulsion against living and dying as a slave. Oh, it's not the traditional type of slavery where the slave is shackled. But it is enslavement none the less. As long as some people have the power to force us to work for them or others, or decide the persons with whom we may trade and on what conditions, or decide where we may travel or not, they are the masters and we are the slaves.