美国独立战争对于北美殖民地反对英国暴政、追求独立自主的正义事业意义深远。但是，如同其他战争一样，所付出的代价是沉重的。除了人员伤亡造成的巨大损失，军需供应扰乱了殖民地的经济秩序。此外，英国的贸易封锁造成物资匮乏，国内财政赤字引发恶性通货膨胀。尽管生活困窘，殖民地人群情激昂，又战斗又生产，带动了美国制造业的兴旺。
The Revolutionary War(1), which began officially on April 19, 1775, dragged on for more than six bitter years. It was a conflict fought by the colonials for the righteous cause of securing freedom from intolerable British intervention1 in American affairs(2).
Maritime2 commerce was always an important factor in the war effort, and trade linkages3 were vital to the supply of arms and ammunitions. When legal restrictions(3) were implemented4 by both the British and the colonists5 in 1775, nearly all American overseas commerce abruptly6 ceased. By mid-1775, the colonies faced acute shor tages in such military essentials as powder, flints, muskets7, and knives. Even salt, shoes, woolens8, and linens9 were in short supply. Late in 1775, Congress(4) auth orized limited trade with the West Indies, mainly to procure10 arms and ammunitions , and trade with other non-British areas was on an unrestricted basis by the spring of 1776.
Nevertheless, the British maintained a fairly effective naval11 blockade of Americ an ports, especially during the first two years of the war. Yet the colonies engaged in international trade despite the blockade. Formal treaties of commerce with France in 1778 and with Holland and Spain shortly thereafter stimulated12 the flows of overseas trade.(5) Between 1778 and early 1782, American wartime commerce was at its zenith. During those years, France, Holland, Spain, and their possessions all actively13 traded with the colonies. Even so, the flow of goods in and out of the colonies remained well below prewar levels. Smuggling14, privateering, and legal trade with overseas partners only partially15 offset16 the drastic trade reductions with Britain. Even the coastal17 trades were curtailed18 by a lack of vessels19, by blockades, and by wartime freight rates. British-occupied ports, such as New York, generated some import activity but little or nothing in the way of exports.
As exports and imports fell, import substitution(6) abounded20, and the colonial economy became considerably21 more self-sufficient. In Philadelphia, for instance, nearly 4,000 women were employed to spin materials in their homes for the newly esta blished textile plants. A sharp increase also occurred in the number of artisan workshops with a similar stimulus22 in the production of beer, whiskey, and other do mestic alcoholic23 beverages24. The rechanneling of American resources into import-competing industries was especially strong along the coast and in the major port cities. Only the least-commercialized rural areas remained little affected25 by the serpentine26 path of war and the sporadic27 flows of wartime commerce.
Overall, the war imposed a distinct economic hardship on the new nation. Most go ods rose in cost and were more difficult to obtain. High prices and severe commercial difficulties encouraged some investors28 to turn from commerce to manufacturing. Then, once the trade lanes reopened with the coming of peace, even those who profited from the war were stung by the tide of imports that swept into American ports and sharply lowered prices. Although many Americans escaped the direct ordea ls of war, few Americans were untouched by it --- at least indirectly29.
Internally, the most pressing problems were financial. Between 1775 and 1781, the war was financed by the issue of paper money in amounts great enough to result in a galloping30 inflation(7) --- the only one ever experienced in America except in the Confederate South. Nearly $400 million (at face value) in continental31 money, quartermaster and commissary certificates of the central government, and paper money of the states was issued to defray wartime expenses. For all practical purposes, these various issues were repudiated32 by the middle of 1783, the effect being at ax(8) on those who held the depreciating33 currency while it declined in value(9). Only a relatively34 small foreign and domestic debttotaling less than $40 million remained(10), but the question of responsibility for its repayment35 remained a thorny36 issue because political leaders assumed that the states that paid the debt would ultimately hold the balance of power politically. More important was the fact that Congress had no independent income and had to rely for funds on catch-as-catch-can(11) contributions from the states, made roughly in proportion to their individual populations. Nor were the states without their own fiscal37 problems. By 1786, no less than seven states were issuing their own paper, and debtor38 groups(12) in the other six states were clamoring for similar issues. Although the issuing states (except Rhode Island) acted responsibly, perhaps no other course of events so frigh tened conservatives(13) as the control of the money supply by the states. Indeed, the legacy39 of hyperinflation left a general distrust of government monetary40 manage ment.
美国独立战争, 自1775年4月19日正式开始，经历了六年多的艰辛岁月。这是殖民地人为抗议英国对北美事务令人无法容忍的干预，争取独立自主的正义事业而进行的斗争。
海上商业活动历来是战事中的重要环节，而保持贸易联系对于武器弹药的供应至关重要。由于1775年英国与殖民地均实施了法律限制，北美殖民地几乎所有的海外贸易都突然中止。到了1775年中期，北美殖民地面临着火药、手雷、枪支及刀具等基本军需品的严重短缺，甚至食盐 、鞋类、毛织物及亚麻织品也供应不足。1775年底，大陆会议准许同西印度群岛进行一定的贸易以获得武器和弹药。到1776年春，与其他非英属地区的贸易已放开进行。
然而，英国对美国港口实施了相当有效的海上封锁，尤其在独立战争的最初两年。尽管封锁严密，各殖民地仍然开展着对外贸易。1778年美国与法国，随后不久又与荷兰、西班牙签定了正式的商业条约，从而促进了海外贸易。1778年至1782年初，美国的战时贸易达到颠峰。在此期间，法国、荷兰、西班牙及其属地都积极进行对美贸易。虽然如此，美国各殖民地的贸易流量一直远远低于战前水平。而走私、劫掠巡航以及与海外伙伴进行的合法贸易还不足以弥补对英进出口的锐减。甚至沿海地区的贸易也由于缺少船只、海上封锁以及战时的高昂运费而缩减 。英国占领的港口，如纽约，只有些许的进口活动，出口量则几乎为零。
由于贸易活动的减少，进口替代品的生产兴旺起来，殖民地的经济因而更加自给自足。例如在费城，新建的纺织厂雇用了近4000名妇女在家里纺织布料。工匠作坊也大量涌现，刺激了啤酒、威士忌及其它国产酒类的酿造。美国的生产资源流向与进口货对抗的行业，这一趋势在沿海地区及港口大城市尤为强劲。免受战争炮火硝烟与战时贸易封锁影响的只有那些远离商业活动的乡村地区。
总的来说，战争带给这个新兴的国家的是显而易见的经济困苦。大多数商品价格上涨且供应紧张。昂贵的价格与贸易的极度艰难促使一些投资者从商业转向制造业。之后，随着战争的结束，贸易通道重新开放，即使那些在战争中赚了一笔的人都为潮水般地涌入美国港口并引起行情骤降的进口商品而痛心疾首。虽然许多美国人逃脱了战争的直接厄运，但没有谁躲过战争的间接冲击。
在国内，最紧迫的问题在财政方面。1775年至1781年间，战争开支是通过发行纸币支撑的，其数量之大足以引起极度通货膨胀，这是美国（南部联盟除外）惟一的一次。发行了大陆货币、中央政府军需军粮券以及各州的货币近4亿美元（票面价值）用来支付战争开销。出于一切实际的考虑，到了1783年中期，所发行的各种货币被拒绝接受，这样一来纸币价值下降对持有贬值钞票的人是个麻烦。政府的外债与内债总额还剩下不到4000万美元，但是由谁来偿还这笔债务是个棘手的问题，因为政治领导人考虑到支付债务的州最终会阻碍政治权力的平衡。更重要的是，国会自身没有收入而只能依靠各州按人口比例尽量征集。各州也并非没有自己的财政困难。到 1786年，至少七个州发行了自己的纸币，其它六个州的债务人团体也强烈要求发行纸币。尽管发行纸币的各州（除罗得岛外）办事可靠，但是由各州控制货币发行这种事情也许令保守派最为惊恐。的确，恶性通货膨胀造成的影响是人们普遍对政府的金融管理失去信任。
1. The Revolutionary War:美国独立战争(1775-1783年), 又称American Revolution/Amer ican War of Independence/the Revolution。其任务是结束英帝国对殖民地的统治，使殖民地上升为一个独立国家，为资本主义发展开辟道路。
2. 美国在独立之前被称作北美殖民地，是一个典型的“移民社会”，其含义包括四个方面： 1）与土著人无关；2）由外来移民组成；3）受移民的历史和社会背景的影响；4）与移民原来的社会有别。北美殖民地人往往称自己为“美利坚民族”或“美利坚人”。美国成立后，他们成为美国人。所以文中“American affairs”应译作“美利坚人的事务”或“北美殖民地事务 ”。
3. 众所周知的“波士顿倾茶”事件促使英议会于1774年通过了5项“不可容忍法令”（the Coercive Acts/the Intolerable Acts）：受殖民地人指控的英国官员只能在英国受审；英国士兵可强行进驻殖民地民宅；取消马萨诸塞的自治地位；封闭北美最大的港口波士顿；将俄亥俄以北的土地划归魁北克。殖民地通过了《萨福克决议案》做出回应：拒绝服从英国的法令,不再向英国交纳税款, 终止与英国的贸易往来。
4. Congress: 1774年召开的第一届“大陆会议”是美国立法机构的雏形与“联合殖民地”的载体。1777年11月15日，“大陆会议”通过了《邦联和永久联合条例》，正式使用“美利坚合众国（the United States of America）”，建立中央行政机构，即由各州代表组成“诸州委员会”，并把“大陆会议”改为“邦联国会”。
5. 美国独立战争的一个特点是外交与革命的有效配合。1775年，大陆会议建立了“秘密通讯委员会”，负责对外事务。 由于本杰明·富兰克林的努力，不仅建立了法美同盟，也促使西班牙、荷兰先后参战。
6. import substitution: 进口替代（措施)。 指一国采取各种措施，限制某些外国工业品进口，促进国内有关工业品的生产，逐渐在国内市场上以国产品替代进口品，为本国的工业化创造条件。
7. galloping inflation: 恶性通货膨胀，指物价无限制地迅速上涨，失去控制，造成货币大幅度贬值乃至整个货币体系濒临崩溃。又称hyperinflation。
8. tax: 重负。
9. 随着纸币发行量的增加以及大陆会议无力征税，纸币可以兑换金银铸币的许诺成了空话。大陆纸币随之贬值，因此人们感到只有大陆纸币很“烫手”。到了1781年，大陆纸币的价值已不到发行面值的1%，习语"not worth a continental"(一钱不值) 即由此而来。
10. 大陆纸币的贬值减轻了政府的（须以金银币偿还的）债务负担。
11. catch-as-catch-can: 尽一切办法,能抓到什么就抓什么。
12. debtor groups: 债务人群体（他们为债务所困，急需货币还债。）
13. conservative: 保守的，支持传统的观点和社会准则的,这里指联邦政府。
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