Some had gone to the army, some to the diplomatic service, and many had remained at home, preferring the honors and offices of the States to those of the Confederation.

Their successors, patriotic and well-meaning though they were, lacked the energy and force of those who had started the Revolution, and, as a consequence, Congress had become feeble and ineffective, easily swayed by influential schemers, and unable to cope with the difficulties which surrounded them.
Outside the government the popular tone had deteriorated sadly.

The lavish issues of irredeemable paper by the Confederation and the States had brought their finances to the verge of absolute ruin.

The continental currency had fallen to something like forty to one in gold, and the decline was hastened by the forged notes put out by the enemy.

The fluctuations of this paper soon bred a spirit of gambling, and hence came a class of men, both inside and outside of politics, who sought, more or less corruptly, to make fortunes by army contracts, and by forestalling the markets.