It is not right to speak too harshly of the refusal of the state governments to give Congress the money it asked for, as the people of the states were in great distress and had no money to give. As soon as peace was declared British merchants sent over great quantities of goods. People bought these goods, for every one thought that good times were coming now that the war was over. But the British government did everything it could do to prevent the coming of good times. The prosperity of the northern states was largely based on a profitable trade with the West Indies. The British government put an end to that trade. No gold and silver came to the United States from the West Indies while gold and silver constantly went out of the country to pay debts due to British merchants. Soon gold and silver grew scarce, and those who had any promptly hid it. The real reason of all this trouble was the lack of a strong national government which could have compelled the British government to open its ports to American commerce. But the people only saw that money was scarce and called upon the state legislatures to give them paper money.

Most of the state legislatures did what they were asked to do. They printed quantities of paper money. They paid the public expenses with it, and sometimes lent it to individuals without much security for its repayment. Before long this paper money began to grow less valuable. For instance, on a certain day a man could buy a bag of flour for five dollars. In three months' time a bag of flour might cost him ten dollars. Soon it became difficult to buy flour for any number of paper dollars. STATE STREET, BOSTON, ABOUT 1790. The Boston Massacre occurred near where the two-horse wagon stands.