Certain goods that they wanted to produce within their own realm, they put on a prohibited list. The Americans objected. They felt that this was an attempt to punish the former colonies for revolting. It is perhaps more true, though, that the British Government was simply looking after their own interests and ignoring those of the United States. There was probably little direct hostility in their policy.
@European nations had thought of American trade as a profitable field of business and probably responsible for much of Great Britain's wealth. Because of this, it was fairly easy for the United States to enter into commercial treaties with foreign countries after the war. These treaties, though, were not very successful. With only a few small exceptions, they left the high import duties of the colonial system in place. They were designed to make commerce legal rather than to encourage it. Still, for a year or more after the war the demand for American products was great enough to satisfy almost everybody. But in 1784 France and @Spain closed their colonial ports. That excluded the shipping of the United States. This proved to be so disastrous for their colonies that the French Government soon was forced to relax its restrictions. The British also made some compromises. And where their orders were not changed, they were usually avoided. In the course of a few years, the West India trade managed to recover.
More surprising to the men of that time was the fact that American foreign trade fell under British commercial control again. It may have been because British merchants were used to American ways of doing things and knew American business conditions. It may have been because other countries found the trade less profitable than they had expected, as certainly was the case with France. It may have been because American merchants and sea captains found themselves at a loss with the absence of the treaty protection they had enjoyed as English subjects. Or it may have been the need to trade on British wealth. Whatever the cause, within a few short years a large part of American trade was in British hands, just as it had been before the Revolution. American trade with Europe was carried on through English merchants very much as the Navigation Acts had defined.
One of the earliest and most lasting traits of the American people is their adaptability. The Americans showed it again now. They adjusted themselves to restored trade dependence upon Great Britain. At the same time, though, they looked for new markets. A striking example can be found in the development of trade with the Far East. The story of Captain Cook's voyage around the world (1768-1771) was first published in London in 1773. It attracted a great deal of attention in America at that time. An edition of the New Voyage was issued in New @York in 1774. No sooner was the Revolution over, than there began a new trade with @China and the northwest coast of America. It made the fortunes of some families of @Salem and @Boston and @Philadelphia. This trade added to the wealth of the country as a whole. Above all, though, it sparked the imagination of Americans. In the same way another outlet was found in trade with @Russia by way of the @Baltic.
As we see, then, the foreign trade of the United States after the Revolution passed through three well-marked stages. First there was a short period of prosperity. This came from an unusual demand for American products. This was followed by a longer period of depression. And then came a gradual recovery through acceptance of the new conditions and adjustment to them.
