Republic of Debtors: Bankruptcy in the Age of American Independence [Hardcover]

Bruce H. Mann (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0674009029 | ISBN-13: 978-0674009028 | Publication Date: January 15, 2003

Debt was an inescapable fact of life in early America. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, its sinfulness was preached by ministers and the right to imprison debtors was unquestioned. By 1800, imprisonment for debt was under attack and insolvency was no longer seen as a moral failure, merely an economic setback. In Republic of Debtors, Bruce H. Mann illuminates this crucial transformation in early American society.

From the wealthy merchant to the backwoods farmer, Mann tells the personal stories of men and women struggling to repay their debts and stay ahead of their creditors. He opens a window onto a society undergoing such fundamental changes as the growth of a commercial economy, the emergence of a consumer marketplace, and a revolution for independence. In addressing debt Americans debated complicated questions of commerce and agriculture, nationalism and federalism, dependence and independence, slavery and freedom. And when numerous prominent men--including the richest man in America and a justice of the Supreme Court--found themselves imprisoned for debt or forced to become fugitives from creditors, their fate altered the political dimensions of debtor relief, leading to the highly controversial Bankruptcy Act of 1800.

Whether a society forgives its debtors is not just a question of law or economics; it goes to the heart of what a society values. In chronicling attitudes toward debt and bankruptcy in early America, Mann explores the very character of American society. (20030209)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This subtle, wide-ranging study examines changing attitudes towards insolvency and their importance to the economy and self-image of the early American republic. Mann, a professor of law and history at the University of Pennsylvania, shows how debtor-relief movements like Shay's Rebellion, a post-Revolution wave of business failures and the need to pay off the public Revolutionary War debt made the problem of debt central to the politics of the new Republic, while the growth of consumer and credit markets enmeshed ever greater portions of the public in debt. A complex imagery of manhood, honor and dependency surrounded the perception of debt in the public mind, while debtors began to invoke the Rights of Man as an argument against debtors' prison. The result, Mann argues, is that by the end of the 18th century insolvency increasingly came to be viewed as economic misfortune rather than moral failure-but only for some. Bankruptcy laws were written to shield wealthy commercial debtors, while broke farmers and workers continued to face prison. Mann examines the political, class and regional antagonisms surrounding the issues of debt and bankruptcy, and draws on newspapers, popular literature and profiles of individual debtors to evoke the complex emotions aroused by debt. The result is an elegantly written blend of economic, political and cultural history that puts in context a problem that is still with us today.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Republic of Debtors is a superb, even dramatic, book about debt, the law on debt, and the experience of debt in the early American republic that reveals how problems over money, credit, and debt shattered lives and transfixed politics as thoroughly in the Revolutionary and early national eras as they still do in the twenty-first century. (Jon Butler, Yale University 20021101)

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 358 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press (January 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674009029
• ISBN-13: 978-0674009028
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,224,486 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling and Highly Pertinent, December 14, 2002

By 

Douglas Barnes (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Republic of Debtors: Bankruptcy in the Age of American Independence (Hardcover)

Bankruptcy is in the air these days, from Enron to overextended former dot-commers. So-called "bankruptcy reform" -- intended to make bankruptcy more difficult and more punitive for debtors -- has been pushed by large creditors for years, and almost passed in the most recent session of Congress.

I'm a first-semester law student. I came to this book with a solid, basic understanding of modern bankruptcy law (gained as a business person and as a legal assistant prior to starting law school). As an undergraduate I took two semesters of legal history, and I have an extensive personal interest in American history.

Despite my background, until I read this book I had no real appreciation of the implications of failing to have an effective bankruptcy law. Focusing primarily on the second half of the eighteenth century (both before and after the American Revolution), Republic of Debtors does an amazing job of showing the social, humanitarian and economic consequences of failing to provide for an orderly discharge of debts in bankruptcy, especially when combined with creditors' remedies such as imprisonment for debt.

I, for one, had never confronted the fact that imprisonment for debt survived so long after the American Revolution, nor did I realize that, aside from some brief experiments, the US did not adopt a set nationwide laws on bankruptcy until the late nineteenth century.

Professor Mann tells the story by drawing on a wide variety of primary materials, including the diaries of imprisoned debtors and documentation of court cases. One particularly interesting chapter deals with the an elaborate form of self-government that evolved within one of the debtor's prisons. As many of those imprisoned were relatively well-educated and had been involved in the movement for independence from England, it was only natural that they would have their own constitution and elected government.

Then, as now, there was a tension between the moral and economic aspects of bankruptcy. On one hand, debtors can be viewed immoral spendthrifts, on the other, as hapless victims of the vicissitudes of a world-wide economy or the bad actions of others. These same tensions underlie the current debate on changes to bankruptcy law, driven by creditors who are seeking a return to a more punitive, moralistic approach to dealing with insolvent creditors.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in the modern bankruptcy debate, early American legal history, or social and economic history generally. It is also just a cracking good read.

Cheers!

6 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good overview in how bankruptcy is okay for elite, June 21, 2005

By 

Gordon Simms - See all my reviews

This review is from: Republic of Debtors: Bankruptcy in the Age of American Independence (Hardcover)

Today the rich can still find ways to get out of the spendthrift debts with trusts, shelters, and bankruptcy, but we have to crack down on the debts that poor people get into like student loans, medical expenses, unemployment and the like.

This book tells us that the elite in the U.S. have always been all in favor of getting out of their own debt while holding the lowborn to the "morality" of insolvency for life.