Government put forth a stronger effort to reduce the colonies to submission. An army consisting of 55,000 men, of whom 17,000 were Hessian mercenaries, was sent, under the command of Sir William Howe, to put down this ‘wicked rebellion.’ The Congress, declaring on May 15, 1776, that the royal authority had ceased, recommended to the several colonies to adopt “such governments as might best conduce to the safety and happiness of the people;” and most of the thirteen colonies soon adopted constitutions as independent and sovereign States. On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee (q.v.), of Virginia, offered a resolution in Congress, declaring that “these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown; and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.” This resolution was adopted on July 2d by the votes of twelve out of thirteen colonies, the New York delegates, who had not as yet received instructions, being excused from voting. A committee, consisting of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston, had been appointed, on June 10th, to prepare a declaration in accordance with the above resolution; and the Declaration of Independence (q.v.), written by Jefferson, based upon the equality of men, and asserting that “all government derives its just powers from the consent of the governed,” on July 4, 1776, received the final assent of the delegates of twelve colonies (the New York delegates still not voting), who thus undertook to dissolve the allegiance of the colonies to the British Crown, and to declare them free and independent States.
After the evacuation of Boston General Washington, with the greater portion of his army, had hastened to New York, which was the centre of hostilities during the following summer. General Howe, having been joined by his brother, Admiral Lord Howe, and Sir Henry Clinton, defeated the Americans in the battle of Long Island, August 27, 1776 (see Long Island, Battle of), and thus was enabled to compel the evacuation of New York and secure the possession of its harbor and of the lower Hudson River. In spite of the gallantry of the Americans at the Battle of Harlem Heights, the British retained secure control of the city, and then sent a force from Long Island Sound into Westchester County, where was fought the battle of White Plains (October 28, 1776), after which Washington, with the larger part of his army, crossed over into New Jersey, leaving, however, a considerable force in the upper portion of Manhattan Island. There, on November 16th, Fort Washington (q.v.) was captured, along with its entire garrison of about 2600 men. Washington then retreated across New Jersey toward Philadelphia, closely followed by the British, under Cornwallis, into whose hands Newark, New Brunswick, and Princeton successively fell. The British then awaited the freezing of the Delaware in order to be able to occupy Philadelphia. On Christmas night General Washington crossed in boats amid floating ice, and early on the following morning surprised and captured a Hessian force at Trenton (q.v.). On January 3, 1777, he fought the successful battle of Princeton (q.v.), by which the waning confidence of the colonists was to a large extent restored, and the prospects of the American arms materially improved. The British thereupon retired to New York, where they spent the rest of the winter.
In the meantime Silas Deane and Benjamin Franklin had been sent to France to solicit recognition and aid, and although formal recognition was delayed, important assistance was privately given in money and supplies, and European volunteers—the Marquis de Lafayette, Baron Steuben, Baron de Kalb, Kosciuszko, and Pulaski—rendered most important services. Efforts were also made, but without success, to induce the British colonies of Canada and Nova Scotia to unite in the struggle for independence, and diplomatic agents in Europe attempted to secure recognition and material assistance from various Powers. Late in September, 1777, after the defeat of the Americans on the 11th at Chadd's Ford on the Brandywine (see Brandywine, Battle of), the British, who under Howe had come by water from New York to the head of Chesapeake Bay, took possession of Philadelphia; and Washington, after attacking the British unsuccessfully on October 4th, at Germantown (q.v.). went into winter quarters early in December at Valley Forge (q.v.), where his troops suffered greatly from cold and hunger.
In the meanwhile General Burgoyne was leading an army of 7000 British and Hessian troops with probably a larger force of Canadians and Indians, from Canada into northern New York, in order to form a junction with the British on the lower Hudson, and thus, by gaining virtual control of New York, separate New England from the rest of the Confederacy. In co-operation with him another force, mostly of Loyalists and Indians, under Saint Leger, was to proceed from Canada by way of Oswego and the Mohawk Valley to the Hudson, but this force was unable to capture Fort Stanwix on its line of march, and after the battle of Oriskany withdrew. (See Saint Leger; Fort Stanwix; and Oriskany, Battle of.) Burgoyne's march was delayed by felled trees and destroyed roads; the defeat of a large force of foragers at Bennington (August 16, 1777) was a severe reverse (see Bennington, Battle of); and after the two sharp battles of Saratoga (q.v.)—on September 19th and October 7th—he was compelled to capitulate to General Gates, October 17, 1777, and England heard with dismay of the loss of an entire army. The Americans took between 5000 and 6000 prisoners and much artillery.
This victory has been regarded as the turning-point of the war. Almost equally important with its military results was its effect upon international relations, in that it gave to the European Powers the first definite proof of the possibility and even the probability of colonial success, and made it feasible for France, with a greater degree of propriety, to recognize formally the new nation, and to enter into a treaty of alliance with the United States on February 6, 1778, a step which largely altered both the military and political situation, and hastened the final success of the Americans. The recognition of the new nation by France prompted Lord North to a policy of reconciliation, but his com-
