The first personal bankruptcy laws began in Great Britain more than four hundred and fifty years ago - of course, those statutes forced the bankrupt to infamous debtor’s prisons (could’ve been worse; the Roman Empire forced insolvent debtors to be slaves of their creditors). Throughout most of western civilization, inability to repay bills was considered the same as fraud and debtors were absolutely considered criminals - often sentenced to death.
Things really didn’t start to change until the English economy began a period of expansion in the 1600’s. As more and more credit opportunities started to become available, there was a growing notion that unsavory credit practices could take advantage of debtors. Around the turn of the seventeenth century, new laws began to differentiate between the unfortunate and the criminally-inclined, and the very image of debtors began to change in social imaginings. After the massive depression following the Seven Years War in 1760, well-regarded stalwarts of the emerging middle class found themselves unable to repay loans and bankruptcy began to be seen as a sad (but ethical) necessity.
In America, after early colonial laws saw debtors punished by branding (T for Thief burnt onto thumbs) and public floggings, the first article of the United States Constitution provided vague guarantees of “uniform laws” for bankruptcy protection - though the first law wasn’t passed until 1800 and that still contained a number of restrictions to prevent coverage. Under this law, bankruptcy hearings could only be called for by the creditors themselves, debtors had to be part of specific industries, and debts had to total a (relatively large for the day) balance. Even with all of these statutes, many debtors still successfully eliminated their debts and the 1800 law was repealed three years later, and, despite another attempt in 1841, no bankruptcy protection that modern consumers would recognize existed until 1867. Things weren’t perfect - administrative fees were so large that the creditor wouldn’t receive any funds and homestead exemptions varied widely from state to state - but, for the first time, desperate debtors had some recourse from spiraling bills.
- Posted under: FAQ , Origins, Bankruptcy
