Foscolo constantly took part in the political debate in his years of active patriotic militancy, between the time of the Venetian Municipality and the consolidation of Napoleonic power around 1802-3, taking positions close to the democrats and putting particular stress of the reasons why national sovereignty should be recognized (see also the article Dell’indipendenza nazionale) and the need for a policy of unification and autonomy from France. Some of his works such as Ode a Bonaparte and Orazione a Bonaparte had a major impact as they interpreted an pro-independence orientation shared by the most democratic fringes of the Italian patriots. The sonnet Te nudrice alle Muse (You feed the Muses), written in August 1798 when the Cisalpine Gran Consiglio (Grand Council) proposed substituting the teaching of Latin with French, raised the question of Italian political autonomy; aside from the didactic, educational pretext, in reality Foscolo was interested in bringing attention to the issue of Italian independence from any form of cultural, linguistic or political subordination to France.

A contribution to the political debate that had a big impact was Discorso su la Italia (Discourse on Italy) about the question of country's independence, which was published in Genoa in 1799 in a climate of ferment and revival among the patriots in refuge in the city just before the 18 Brumaire and Napoleon's seizure of power. The work, written in the style of a political pamphlet with an assertive, commanding tone, aimed to promote the project of independence, warning the French in general, and Generale Championnet, to whom the piece is dedicated, in particular, to share the demands of the patriots engaged in extreme resistance against the Austro-Russians, who by this time were victorious throughout northern Italy.

Military commitment also drives Commentari della storia di Napoli, probably written in the summer of 1801 with a telegraphic, sententious tone that recalls Discorso su la Italia.