Declaring independence did not transform the war’s immediate military prospects
Evidence
If dated from the Declaration of Independence in July 1776 rather than from the start of armed hostilities at Lexington and Concord in April 1775, then the Revolutionary War began badly for the Americans. Even proclaiming independence helped little at first. Congress expected otherwise, with its president, John Hancock, sending the news to Washington in a letter expressing the members’ conviction that “our Affairs may take a more favourable Turn” because of the Declaration. … No longer battling for liberty under the king, Americans would fight for liberty and independence. Public readings of the Declaration of Independence to the assembled troops on York Island (now Manhattan Island) and gathered crowds in cities and towns throughout the states often touched off impromptu celebrations marked by cheers, toasts, musket fire, and the destruction of such signs of British rule as the king’s arms or images of George III. But momentary enthusiasm did not change underlying realities. — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 229
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to course discussion of the Declaration’s real-world political function versus its abstract legal force. — connects to: The Declaration’s words alone carried no military force against British strength — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 227; Publicly announcing independence mattered more to Ibrahim than military victories; Celebration of independence coincided with immediate British naval pressure (+3 more)