<P> The American Revolutionary War inflicted great financial costs on all of the combatants, including the United States of America, France, Spain and Great Britain . France and Great Britain spent 1.3 billion livres and 250 million pounds, respectively . The United States spent $400 million in wages for its troops . Spain increased its military spending from 454 million reales in 1778 to over 700 million reales in 1779 . </P> <P> The economic warfare between Great Britain and the colonists began well before the colonies declared their independence in 1776 . Regulations from the crown were met with fierce opposition from the colonists . After lobbies and petitions proved ineffective, the colonists turned to boycotting imported English goods . Boycotting proved to be successful in crippling British trade . After the first colonial boycott in 1765, Parliament overturned the Sugar and Stamp Acts, and after a second boycott in 1768 Parliament overturned all of the Townshend duties except for the tax on tea . The colonists persisted, and the American boycott on tea ultimately culminated in the Boston Tea Party of 1773 . Despite the Revolution's widespread association with the colonists' aversion to higher taxes, it has been claimed that the colonists actually paid far less tax compared to their British counterparts . </P> <P> British efforts to weaken the colonies included isolating their economy from the rest of the world by cutting off trade . With a navy that was many times more powerful than its American counterpart, the English had virtual control over the American ports . The British took control of major port cities along the colonial east coast, and as a result British warships were able to drastically reduce the number of ships that could successfully travel from the colonies . Consequently, the U.S. saw a fall in exported goods due to the relentless British blockade . Furthermore, England's naval strength was great enough to intimidate other nations and scare them away from exporting goods to the colonies, so smuggled and inexpensive imports became costly and rare . </P>

Who did the us borrow money from during the revolutionary war