For the surplus, they had to find markets. They had to rely on the outside world for a large part of their manufactured goods, especially for those of the higher grade. In other words, from an economic point of view, the United States remained in the colonial stage of industrial dependence. This was worsened rather than eased by the separation from Great Britain. During the colonial period, Americans had carried on a large amount of this external trade with their own ships. The @British Navigation Acts required that goods be transported in British vessels, manned by crews of British sailors. It also named certain goods which could be shipped only to Great Britain. The British, though, declared the colonial vessels and colonial sailors to be "British." That meant the Americans could trade freely as British subjects. A large part of New England's wealth, and of the middle colonies as well, had been due to this trade. It would seem, then, as if a main need of the American people right after the Revolution was to get access to their old markets and to carry the goods as much as possible in their own vessels.
In some areas they were successful. One of the products in greatest demand was fish. The fishing industry had been almost destroyed by the war, but with peace the New England fisheries began to recover. They were in competition with the fishermen of @France and England who were aided by large yields. But American fishermen had one advantage -- geography. Their large coastal area let them maintain and expand their business. In other areas they were not so successful. The British still believed in their colonial system. They used this system without regard to the interests of the United States. For the American products they wanted, they allowed them into British markets. The one condition was that they had to be carried in British vessels. And the United States was no longer British.
