The Distribution of Congressional Spending During the American Revolution, 1775-1780: The Problem of Geographic Balance

Farley Grubb

No 08-21, Working Papers from University of Delaware, Department of Economics

Abstract: Resources to fight the War for Independence from Great Britain (1775-1783) were to be provided to the U.S. Congress by the individual states based on each state’s population share in the united colonies. Congressional spending, however, largely flowed to where the theater of war was located. Thus a geographic imbalance in revenue and spending arose. Because much of the spending was through issuing paper money, geographic variation in inflation as well as in general economic activity resulted. This in turn affected the relative strength of each state’s attachment to the union with ramifications on maintaining political unity.

Keywords: American Revolution; War Finance; Fiscal Federalism; Paper Money; Continental Dollar (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E62 H60 H77 N11 N41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 38 pages
Date: 2008
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Working Paper: The Distribution of Congressional Spending During the American Revolution, 1775-1780: The Problem of Geographic Balance (2008)
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