The war for independence from Britain was a long and
economical costly conflict. The New England fishing industry was (36)
destroyed, and the tobacco (37) in the South were
also hard (38) The trade in imports was seriously
(39) , since the war was fought against the country that had
previously monopolized the supply of (40) goods. The most
serious (41) were felt in the cities. Because they depended
on (42) activity. Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and
Charleston were all (43) for a time by British troops.
(44) . American income from ship building and commerce
declined, harming the entire economy of the urban areas. The decline in trade
brought a fall in the American standard of living. (45) Some
of them joined the Continental army, or if they were loyal to Britain, they
departed with the British forces. (46) . The destroys
produced by the fighting of the war, by the loss of sources of credit, and by
the lack of new investment all created a period of economic stagnation that
lasted for the next twenty years.