<P> The Continental Congress did have power to print paper money; it printed so much that its value plunged until the expression "not worth a continental" was used for some worthless item . Congress could not levy taxes and could only make requisitions upon the states, which did not respond generously . Less than a million and a half dollars came into the treasury between 1781 and 1784, although the states had been asked for two million in 1783 alone . In 1785, Alexander Hamilton issued a curt statement that the Treasury had received absolutely no taxes from New York for the year . </P> <P> States handled their debts with varying levels of success . The South for the most part refused to pay its debts off, which was damaging to local banks, but Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia fared well due to their production of cash crops such as cotton and tobacco . South Carolina would have done the same except for a series of crop failures . Maryland suffered from financial chaos and political infighting . New York and Pennsylvania fared well, although the latter also suffered from political quarrels . New Jersey, New Hampshire, Delaware, and Connecticut struggled . Massachusetts was in a state of virtual civil war (see above) and suffered from high taxes and the decline of its economy . Rhode Island alone among the New England states prospered and mostly because of its notorious harboring of pirates and smugglers . </P> <P> When Adams went to London in 1785 as the first representative of the United States, he found it impossible to secure a treaty for unrestricted commerce . Demands were made for favors and there was no assurance that individual states would agree to a treaty . Adams stated it was necessary for the states to confer the power of passing navigation laws to Congress, or that the states themselves pass retaliatory acts against Great Britain . Congress had already requested and failed to get power over navigation laws . Meanwhile, each state acted individually against Great Britain to little effect . When other New England states closed their ports to British shipping, Connecticut hastened to profit by opening its ports . </P> <P> By 1787 Congress was unable to protect manufacturing and shipping . State legislatures were unable or unwilling to resist attacks upon private contracts and public credit . Land speculators expected no rise in values when the government could not defend its borders nor protect its frontier population . </P>

When was the name united states of america adopted