 Less than two months after the Americans declared independence, the British had responded with a massive invasion, a huge show of force in New York City, and had defeated Washington's army at the Battle of Long Island. And it wasn't just a defeat like the kind you could blame on circumstance. It was actually a complete humiliation. When the British landed in Manhattan, the Americans were so shocked by the massive show of force that many of them just ran away. They didn't even fight.