The thirteen former British colonies in North America emerged from their war of independence weak in all but spirit. The war had impoverished them: it had actually ruined some of those who had initiated the revolution. The colonies were not fully united: the confederation that had been cobbled together to fight the British was loose, and not likely to make the new nation strong enough to stand on its own feet. America was still isolated — 3,000 miles from Europe, at the outer edge of the civilised world, alienated from Britain but not close to the shaky French monarchy. To offset these disadvantages Americans had some leaders of extraordinary political vision and skill — Washington and Franklin in the older generation, Jefferson, Hamilton, Madison, and Monroe among their juniors. Morale was high: they had succeeded in winning their independence from Britain, the most powerful country in Europe. Above all, Americans had vitality — ambition, imagination, drive. And not only their leaders. Breaking in a new land had given them a self-reliance and resilience that would stand them in good stead when they went out into the world. Their self-reliance owed more than a little to a Calvinist religious background, which gave them confidence in themselves, and in the righteousness of their causes.

One result of achieving independence was that Americans were freed from the restrictions imposed on them by Britain's Navigation Acts, which had played their part in causing the revolution. By the same token, Americans now lost the benefits of the British system of trade protection, such as they were. American ships were excluded from the West Indies, which had provided a large part of their trade before the war. New England was particularly hard hit, as it depended heavily on sea-borne trade. Its merchants and seafarers had to find new sources of income quickly. But it was their rivals in New York who first found a way As soon as the war was over, a group of merchants there got together and built a ship to send to China.