The British were massing a huge army on Staten Island and preparing to attack George Washington and his largely amateur soldiers who were entrenched on Long Islamd and in New York. On August 27th, the British attacked the Americans on Long Island and beat them badly. only a near miraculous combination of good luck, British overconfidence and foggy weather enabled Washington to escape by nigh with most of his army to Manhattan Island
Of the Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin is the only one to have signed the four most critical documents that effectively created the United States of America.The first one was the Declaration of Independence. This famous document,by which the colonies proclaimed their seperation from England, was signed in 1776.