What were the signers of the declaration of independence willing to lose by declaring their independence from england?

their lives and more; the hardships of those first signers and their families endured after posting their name of that declaration, knowing that the penalty would be death if captured by british as traitors and were tortured before they died. there were still many loyalist to the crown was against such document and it's signers. so many brave signers and surviving family had to live the rest of their lives in hiding.