<P> The American Revolutionary War took a heavy toll on Great Britain . The average cost for the war was £ 12 million a year . The British ended the war with a national debt of £ 250 million, which generated a yearly interest of over £ 9.5 million . This debt piled on to the already outstanding debt from the Seven Years' War . Taxes on the British population increased over the years and duties on some items such as glass and lead were also added, the average tax for the British public being four shillings in every pound . Furthermore, the Royal Navy was not able to' rule the waves' as it had done in the Seven Years' War . </P> <P> Great Britain's trade with the thirteen American colonies fell apart once the American Revolution started, causing British businessmen, especially from the tobacco industry, to suffer . Income from the sale of woolen and metal products dropped sharply and export markets dried up . British merchant sailors also felt the pinch: it is estimated that 3,386 British merchant ships were seized by enemy forces during the war . However, Royal Navy warships did make up these losses somewhat, due to their own privateering efforts on enemy shipping, particularly Spanish and French merchant ships . </P> <P> During the war, France shouldered a financial burden similar to that of Great Britain, as debt from the American Revolutionary War was piled upon already existing debts from the Seven Years' War . The French spent 1.3 billion livres on war costs . When the war ended, France had accumulated a debt of 3,315.1 million livres, a fortune at the time . </P> <P> The debt caused major economic and political problems for France, and, as the country struggled to pay its debts, eventually led to the Financial Crisis of 1786 and the French Revolution in 1789 . </P>

When did the us pay off the revolutionary war debt off