<P> A brief recession followed the war, but prosperity returned by 1786 . Those who remained benefited from the exodus of many Loyalists who left behind their land and businesses . Almost twenty percent of Americans had remained loyal to Britain, and as many as 80,000 of these Loyalists left the United States during and after the war . Economically mid-Atlantic states recovered particularly quickly and began manufacturing and processing goods, while New England and the South experienced more uneven recoveries . Trade with Britain resumed, and the volume of British imports after the war matched the volume from before the war, though exports fell precipitously . Adams, serving as the ambassador to Britain, called for a retaliatory tariff in order to force the British to negotiate a commercial treaty, particularly regarding access to Caribbean markets . However, Congress lacked the power to regulate foreign commerce or compel the states to follow a unified trade policy, and Britain proved unwilling to negotiate . While trade with the British did not fully recover, the U.S. expanded trade with France, China, the Netherlands, Portugal, and other European countries . Despite these good economic conditions, many traders complained of the high duties imposed by each state, which served to restrain interstate trade . Many creditors also suffered from the failure of domestic governments to repay debts incurred during the war . Though the 1780s saw moderate economic growth, many experienced economic anxiety, and Congress received much of the blame for failing to foster a stronger economy . </P> <P> In 1776, the Continental Congress had drafted the Model Treaty, which served as a guide for U.S. foreign policy during the 1780s . The treaty sought to abolish trade barriers such as tariffs, while avoiding political or military entanglements . In this, it reflected the foreign policy priorities of many Americans, who sought to play a large role in the global trading community while avoiding war . Lacking a strong military, and divided by differing sectional priorities, the U.S. was often forced to accept unfavorable terms of trade during the 1780s . </P> <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>

In what ways was the united states still not unified in the era of the confederation