Recognition as the Central Obstacle
- When
- September 11, 1776
- Where
- Billop Manor, Staten Island
- Part of
- Staten Island Parley
The Americans required British recognition of the July 4 Declaration of Independence; Howe could view the delegates only as British subjects.
The Americans insisted that any negotiations required the British recognition of the United States Declaration of Independence proclaimed on July 4. When Howe expressed that he would feel America's loss "like the loss of a brother," Franklin informed him that the Americans would do their utmost to save him that mortification. Howe unhappily stated that he could not view the American delegates as anything but British subjects, dooming the talks.
Sources
- Staten Island Peace Conference Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-19
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.