<P> William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, had served as Prime Minister during the negotiations that led to the Treaty of Paris . Shelburne had hoped for peaceful relations and increased trade with the U.S., but his government fell in 1783, and his successors were less intent on amicable relations with the United States . The British continued to pursue mercantilist economic policies, and excluded the U.S. from trading with its Caribbean colonies . Britain flooded the U.S. with manufactured goods, while withholding goods that could have aided U.S. industrialization . In the Western territories, the British retained control of several forts and continued to cultive alliances with Native Americans and potentially disloyal American settlers . Their policies slowed down U.S. settlement while also allowing Britain to extract profits from the lucrative fur trade . The British justified their continued occupation of the forts on the basis that the U.S. states had impeded the collection of pre-war debts, which a subsequent investigation by Jay confirmed . As there was little the powerless Congress could do to coerce the states into action, the British retained their justification to continue to occupy the forts . The British hoped that the U.S. would ultimately collapse due to its lack of cohesion, at which point they could re-establish hegemony over North America . </P> <P> Spain, a co-belligerent during the Revolutionary War, controlled the territories of Florida and Louisiana, positioned to the south and west of the United States, respectively . Americans had long recognized the importance of navigation rights on the Mississippi River, as it was the only realistic outlet for many settlers in the trans - Appalachian lands to ship their products to the Eastern Seaboard and other markets . Despite having fought a common enemy in the Revolutionary War, Spain saw U.S. expansionism as a threat to its empire . Seeking to stop the American settlement of the Old Southwest, Spain denied the U.S. navigation rights on the Mississippi River, provided arms to Native Americans, and recruited friendly American settlers to the sparsely populated territories of Florida and Louisiana . Additionally, Spain disputed the Southern and Western borders of the United States . The most important border dispute centered on the border between Georgia and West Florida, as Spain and the United States both claimed parts of present - day Alabama and Mississippi . Spain also conspired with U.S. General James Wilkinson in a plot to make much of the Southwestern United States secede . </P> <P> Secretary of Foreign Affairs John Jay sought a treaty with Spain to resolve these disputes and expand commerce with Spain . The resulting Jay--Gardoqui Treaty would have required the U.S. to renounce any right to access the Mississippi River for twenty - five years in return for a commercial treaty and the mutual recognition of borders . In 1786, Jay submitted the treaty to Congress, precipitating a divisive debate . Southerners, led by James Monroe of Virginia, opposed the provision regarding the Mississippi and accused Jay of favoring Northeastern commercial interests over Western growth . Ratification of treaties required nine votes under the Articles of Confederation, and all five Southern states voted against ratification, dooming the treaty . </P> <P> Under the leadership of Foreign Minister Vergennes, France had entered the Revolutionary War, in large part to damage the British . The French were an indispensable ally during the war, providing supplies, finances, and a powerful navy . In 1778, France and the United States signed the Treaty of Alliance, establishing a "perpetual" military alliance, as well as the Treaty of Amity and Commerce, which established commercial ties . In the Treaty of Paris, Britain consented to relatively favorable terms to the United States partly out of a desire to weaken U.S. dependency on France . After the war, the U.S. sought increased trade with France, but commerce between the two countries remained limited . The U.S. also requested French aid in pressuring the British to evacuate their forts in U.S. territory, but the French were not willing to intervene in Anglo - American relations again . </P>

Describe the country's financial problems after the revolutionary war