Privileges which the Americans had received from Britain automatically when they had colonial status were withdrawn, (including protection from North African pirates in the Mediterranean that led to the First and the Second Barbary Wars). Individual states ignored Federal recommendations, under Article 5, to restore confiscated Loyalist property, and also evaded Article 6 (e.g. by confiscating Loyalist property for "unpaid debts"). Some, notably Virginia, also defied Article 4, and maintained laws against payment of debts to British creditors. The British also largely ignored Article 7, which called for the return of all runaway slaves who had escaped to British lines.