The Declaration’s words alone carried no military force against British strength

Evidence

Declaring independence did not ensure achieving it. Words could not win the war. On the same July 4 morning that Congress approved the Declaration, it received a letter from Washington reporting that British ships had begun disembarking soldiers onto loyalist-leaning Staten Island on July 2, which gave them a secure position for invading Long Island or New Jersey and from there New York. The table had turned. Howe and his army now held a similar advantage in New York as Washington and his army once held in Boston—a larger force on the offense encircling a smaller one on the defense, but this time the attacking army had the further advantage of naval superiority in a place where it mattered greatly. Adding to the reversal of fortunes, Tories in New York kept the British abreast of American military maneuvers while Washington knew nearly nothing about what British forces would do until after they did it. Congress urged nearby states to send additional soldiers to defend New York and New Jersey, but more raw troops could make little difference by this point. — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 227

Categorization

• XREF: Illustrates the gap between legal-political first principles and their enforcement—core to the course’s institutions-vs-aspirations theme. — connects to: Declaring independence did not transform the war’s immediate military prospects — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 229

Broader Connections

• Declaring independence did not transform the war’s immediate military prospects #corroborates (0.95) — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 229