This
paper attempts to fill a gap in the public finance and economic historical
literature by providing a logically consistent estimate of the foreign indebtedness of the U.S. government at the close of 1783. It recognizes that previous
major studies providing estimates of this debt differ conceptually and also show
some basic accounting deficiencies. The paper introduces a simple methodology for developing an estimate of the postrevolutionary debt, generates
figures using this methodology, and finally updates the figures of the earlier
major studies.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bayley, R.A. (1880) "History of national loans of the United States from July 4, 1776 to June 30, 1880." in U.S. Census Office, Tenth Census (1880, Vol. VII: 295-486. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
2.
Bullock, C.J. (1895) "Finances of the United States from 1775 to 1789, with especial reference to the budget." University of Wisconsin Bulletin, Economics, Vol. I, No. 2. Madison: University of Wisconsin.
3.
Davis, L. and D.C. North (1971) Institutional Change and American Economic Growth . Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press .
4.
Gallman, R. (1972) "The pace and pattern of American economic growth," in L. Davis et al., American Growth, An Economist's History of the United States. New York: Harper & Row.
5.
Hamilton, A. (1790) "Report of the public credit, January 9, 1790." American State Papers, Vol. V, Finance. Washington: Gales & Seaton, 1832. [See also Vol. I.]
6.
Jones, A.H. (1976) American Colonial Wealth, Documentary Evidence and Methodology. New York: Arno .
7.
——— (1970) "Wealth estimates for the American middle colonies, 1774." Economic Development and Cultural Change18, No. 4, Part 2 (July). Chicago: University of Chicago Research Center in Economic Development and Cultural Change.
8.
Journal of Congress (1784) Proceedings from November 3, 1783 to June 3, 1784. Vol. IX. Philadelphia: Farwell's, 1800.
9.
Lewis, C. (1938) America's Stake in International Investments. Washington: Brookings Institution. [Appendix A entitled "The Revolutionary War Debts."]
10.
Myers, M.G. (1970) A Financial History of the United States. New York: Columbia River Press.
11.
North, D.C. (1964) Decisions that Faced the New Nation, 1783-1820 . Seattle: Curricular Resources .
12.
——— (1961) The Economic Growth of the United States, 1790-1860 . Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall .
13.
Pitkin, T. (1816) A Statistical View of the Commerce of the United States of America.
14.
Hartford, CT: Charles Hosmer. [Reprinted 1967, New York: Augustus M. Kelley.] Secret Journals of Congress (1783) Treaty Contract of February 21, 1783, Between the King of France and the Thirteen United States of North America. Vol. III: 281-288. Boston : Thomas B. Wait (1821).
15.
Sparks, J. (1884) Life of Franklin, Vol. IX. Boston: Tappant & Whittemore . [Cited in Bayley, Tenth Census (1880): 305].
16.
Sumner, W.G. (1891) The Financier and the Finances of the American Revolution, Vol. I: chs. XIII, XIV, and XV; Vol. II: chs. XVI, XIX, XXIII, XXIV. New York: Dodd, Mead.
17.
Taylor, G.R. and E.D. Hoover (1959) Hearings Before the Joint Economic Committee, Eighty-Sixth Congress, First Session, Part 2, entitled "Historical and Comparative Rates of Production, Productivity and Prices." Washington: Government Printing Office.
18.
U.S. Bureau of the Census (1960) Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1957. Washington: Government Printing Office .
19.
U.S.Census Office (1880) Tenth Census. Washington: Government Printing Office.
20.
Rafael A. Bayley, ["History of National Loans of the United States from July 4, 1776 to June 30, 1880," Vol. VII: 295-486.]
21.
U.S. Congress (1794) "Treaty of amity, commerce and navigation [Jay Treaty 1794], 61st Congress, 2nd session, Senate Doc. 367, Vol. I, entitled Treaties, Conventions, International Acts, Protocols and Agreements between the United States of America and other Powers, 1776-1909. Washington: Government Printing Office (1910).
22.
U.S. Congress (1802) "Convention for payment of indemnities and settlement of debts," in Treaties, Conventions, International Acts, Protocols and Agreements between the United States of America and other Powers, 1776-1909. Washington : Government Printing Office (1910 ).
