Meanwhile the Continental Congress was not inactive. The committee to which was referred the important duty of drafting the Declaration of Independence worked faithfully, and on the 28th of June, 1776, the paper prepared by Thomas Jefferson was presented for the consideration of the body. The document was finally adopted on the 4th of July. It was not signed, however, until August. The representatives from New York who signed it were William Floyd of Suffolk County, Philip Livingston of New York, Francis Lewis, who, as we have seen, at one time lived in Brooklyn and owned a large estate there, and Lewis Morris of Westchester. Robert R. Livingston's name should have been appended, but he was called to New York to attend the Provincial Congress before it was engrossed and ready to receive the signatures of the members, and thus his name does not appear on the immortal document. However, as one of its framers he will be forever identified with this glorious manifesto. Just prior to the adoption of the Declaration, New York was placed in a critical position. On the 23d of June, General Howe with a large fleet appeared before the city, and on the 2d of July took possession of a portion of Staten Island, where he found many adherents of the cause of royalty. Soon after he was joined by his brother, Admiral Lord Howe, with a large fleet from England, and also by Sir Henry Clinton, with the troops under his command. He was thus placed in command of an army consisting of 24,000 well-disciplined men from England. This was not all. The Tory inhabitants flocked to his standard, and although not in many respects as efficient soldiers as the troops from England, still their knowledge of the country rendered them invaluable as aids in prospecting and giving information. Washington had no such force. To cope with this army he had only 20,000 volunteer recruits, whose knowledge of military tactics was but limited, and many of whom were incapacitated for service. Moreover, had they been disciplined, he had neither the arms nor the ammunition necessary to properly equip them. Meanwhile provision had been made for the election of delegates to the fourth Provincial Congress of New York. As New York was in a state of siege, it was deemed best to assemble at the court house in White Plains, twenty-six miles from New York. The body met on the 9th of July. Kings County was represented by Theodorus Polhemus. On the first day of the session the Declaration of Independence was read and unanimously adopted. On the following day the title of the body was changed from that of the Provincial Congress of the Colony of New York to that of the Convention of the Representatives of the State of New York. It continued to sit at White Plains until the 27th day of July, when it adjourned to meet at Harlem on the 29th. It is needless to say that the news of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence occasioned much excitement and enthusiasm in New York and Brooklyn.