As the Second Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, New York City fell to a British fleet of 30,000 soldiers and Hessian mercenaries, German soldiers-for-hire.

To understand the British point of view, it is necessary to go back a few years, to 1806, when Napoleon ignited a global economic war by creating the Continental System, which closed every market ...

2. “Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.” — Ernest Hemingway, 1946. Hemingway was 18 years old when he volunteered to be an ambulance driver for WWI.

A NEW DECLARATION OF THE ATTITUDE OF THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT LETTER FROM EARL RUSSELL. Share full article. Feb. 16, 1862. Credit... The New York Times Archives.

The U.S. declaration of war against Great Britain in 1812 capped off years of tensions, ... In August 1814, the British brought the war to Washington, D.C., which had barely 8,000 residents.