St Petersburg was frozen and unusable for half the year
Also they didn't have fish to eat for half a year
So when that warm water port was acquired it was a game changer.
Thomas Jefferson said “—That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness… it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”
John Hancock
On August 2, 1776, Congress members signed the declaration. Not every man who had been present on July 4 signed the declaration on August 2.
