Republic of debtors
Subtitle: bankruptcy in the age of American independence
By: Bruce H. Mann
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Published: 2002
Place of publication: Cambridge, MA
Language: eng
Number of pages: 344
Subjects: Debt -- United States; Consumer credit -- United States; Bankruptcy -- United States
Description: "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."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [265]-338) and index