THE ORDEAL OF THE CONFEDERATIONIt was characteristic of the people of the United States that once assured oftheir political independence they should face their economic future withbuoyant expectations. As colonizers of a new world they were confident intheir own strength. When once the shackles of the British mercantile systemwere shaken off, they did not doubt their ability to compete for the marketsof the world. Even Washington, who had fewer illusions than most of hiscontemporaries, told his fellow citizens of America that they were "placedin the most enviable condition, as sole lords and proprietors of a vast tractof continent, comprehending all the various soils and climates of the world, and abounding with all the necessaries and conveniences of life." Indepen-dence was the magic word which the common man believed would openwide the gates of prosperity. Yet within a year after the ratification of thePeace of Paris, American society was in the throes of a severe industrial de-pression.Contrary to the accepted view, the latter years of the war were not yearsof penury and want among the people. Outside of those regions of Vir-3 ALLEN JOHNSONginia and the Carolinas, which were devastated by the marching and coun-termarching of the combatants, the people were living in comparative com-fort. North of the Potomac, indeed, there was even a tendency to specu-lation in business and extravagance in living. Throughout the war farmershad found a ready market for their produce within the lines of the Britishand French armies. The temporary suspension of commerce had encour-aged many forms of productive industry. As the war continued, venture-some skippers eluded British men-of-war and found their way to Europeanor Dutch West India ports, bringing home rich cargoes in exchange for to-bacco, flour, and rice. The prizes brought in by privateers added largely tothe stock of desirable and attractive merchandise in the shops of Boston, Philadelphia, and Charleston. If such prosperity could follow in the wakeof war, what commercial gains might not be expected in the piping times ofpeace? In anticipation of immediate returns, merchants drew heavily upontheir foreign creditors and stocked their shops with imported commodities.Southern planters indulged similar expectations and bought land and slaveson credit, regardless of the price. "A rage for running in debt became epi-demical," wrote a contemporary observer. "Individuals were for getting richby a coup de main; a good bargain-a happy speculation-was almost everyman's object and pursuit."During the hard times of 1785-86 these golden dreams vanished. Instead ofsharing as the people of an independent nation in the trade and commerceof the world, American shippers found themselves no better off than theywere as dependents of Great Britain. Orders in council at once closed theports of the British West Indies to all staple products which were not car-ried in British bottoms. Certain commodities, -fish, pork, and beef, -whichmight compete with the products of British dependencies, were excluded al-together. The policy of France and Spain was scarcely less illiberal. The effectwas immediate. Cut off from their natural markets, American shipownerswere forced either to leave their vessels to rot at their wharves or to seek newmarkets. For months there seemed to be no other alternative. At the same4 ALLEN JOHNSON