From the moment of its birth, the United States faced insurmountable debt crisis. The government lacked the power to effectively deal with foreign issues and a sound economic system, which left the U.S. with no way to repay their debt. France, having supplied the colonies with help during the Revolutionary war, wanted compensation for the military and monetary resources they exhausted. America owed money to British merchants. Colonists who had been loyal to England and were now living in an entirely independent country suffered property losses for which the government needed to recompense, and couldn't. The Revolutionary War alone had cost $190 million, and the currency printed by the Continental Congress held no value anywhere else on the globe. The U.S. was left with debt crisis and a government ill-prepared to deal with it.