<P> As the war progressed, the Americans' deteriorating financial stability quickly became Britain's greatest asset . Because it did not possess the power to tax the colonists, the Continental Congress printed money at a rapid rate to fund the army's expenses and pay off its loans from foreign nations . As a result, the colonies experienced severe inflation and depreciation of the Continental dollar . The colonists also had great difficulty in financing a wartime effort against the British southern campaign, not effectively halting the British destruction until the battle of Yorktown in 1781 . When war ended in 1783, American negotiations, monetary policies and government restructuring all contributed to paying off the American national debt . </P> <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 (3.8 percent). 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 (20 percent). 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>

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