L'Entré triumphale des Troupes royales a Nouvelle Yorck – Der Einzug der Königlichen Volcker in Neu Yorck (The Triumphal Entry of Royal Troops into New York)

We here witness British troops marching into New York on September 15, 1776, two months after the ratification of the Declaration of Independence. Instead of describing the Anglo-Dutch character of the city, the German designer Habermann lined the streets with buildings that look Central European. First published in Augusburg, the print comes from a series reissued in Paris that focused on Revolutionary-era New York. Brightly hand-colored panoramic compositions like this were known as Perspective Prints in Britain, Vues d'optique in France and Guckkastenbilder or Perspektivansichten in Germany. Their imaginative visual reportage was often viewed through a perspective glass, or zograscope, whose concave lens and mirror reverses the scene and enhances its three-dimensionality.

At this early stage of the war, two and a half months after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Washington's Continental Army had been twice defeated by superior British forces at the Battles of Long Island and Brooklyn Heights. Realizing he could not hold New York City, Washington moved his troops north to Harlem then evacuated the island entirely by mid-November. The British retained control until after the Treaty of Versailles was ratified in November 1783. European viewers of this image in 1776 undoubtedly thought that the Americans had little chance of overcoming British military might.