Founders staked their lives, fortunes, and honor on the independence declaration.

Evidence

And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. — Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence, 42

Categorization

• XREF: The pledge of honor as obligatory self-binding — a concrete emblem of the extralegal and reputational enforcement of the founders’ commitments.