Memorial of the Citizens of Charleston, Praying the Establishment of..
"Overwhelmed by Debts that Grind Them to the Earth" [Bankruptcy]. [United States]. [Hamilton, James, Jr. (1782-1857)]. Memorial of the Citizens of Charleston, Praying the Establishment of an Uniform System of Bankruptcy. February 8, 1822. Referred to the Committee of the Whole House to Which is Committed the Bill to Establish an Uniform System of Bankruptcy Throughout the United States. At head of title: [65]. Washington [DC]: Printed by Gales & Seaton, 1822. 7 pp. Octavo (9" x 5-1/2"; 22.8 x 14.2 cm). Disbound pamphlet. Light browning and foxing, leaves starting to separate at ends. $250. * Enacted in 1800 with a slim majority, the first Federal bankruptcy act aimed to encourage economic risk and supersede the patchwork of debtor laws in force in the different states. Never a popular law, it was repealed in 1803. Claiming this would stifle economic development, supporters of the defeated bill launched a campaign to restore the law or enact a similar one. This petition was written by some of these supporters from Charleston, South Carolina. The chief signatory is James Hamilton Jr., then the city's mayor. Shortly after the date of the petition, he suppressed an uprising of enslaved people in the city; the acclaim he received catapulted him to a political career that culminated in service as the state's governor. Supporters of a national bankruptcy act increased in number after the Panic of 1837 and the five-year depression that followed. Their efforts reached fruition in the General Bankrupt Law of 1841. Almost as unpopular as its 1801 predecessor, however, it was repealed in 1843.
Price: $250.00
Book number 85304