ABSTRACT
Exports to Britain declined sharply in the 1780's by reason of the discontinuance of the bounty payments, with the result that increased shipments went to the northern states. Prices of South Carolina produce collapsed in 1783 and although they recovered in 1784, the revival was for a few months only and was followed by a drastic downward movement which continued for nearly two years. War-born shortages of goods quickly brought about a revival of the import trade. Lists of goods ordered by American importers in 1783 reveal the postwar demand. Since a depression means, first of all, depressed prices, the hard times of the 1780's were indeed a depression, for prices became severely depressed. Britain's hold on the seacoast towns and her incitement of the southern loyalists so prolonged irregular warfare that the South did not get a chance to recover until after Congress proclaimed peace in April, 1783.
