Memorial of Sundry Citizens of the City of Troy, In the State of New..
The "Incalculable Mischiefs" of a National Bankruptcy System [Bankruptcy]. [United States]. Memorial of Sundry Citizens of the City of Troy, In the State of New York, (Against a System of Bankruptcy.) February 11, 1822. Printed by Order of the House of Representatives. At head of title: [61]. Washington [DC]: Printed by Gales & Seaton, 1822. 4 pp. Octavo (9" x 5-1/2"; 22.8 x 14.2 cm). Disbound pamphlet. Light browning and foxing, leaves separated and lightly edgeworn. $200. * 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 Never a popular law, it was repealed in 1803.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. They were met with resistance from people like these memorialists, who "are decidedly of opinion [sic], that, should the proposed system of bankruptcy be adopted, it would cause incalculable mischiefs to the community, without affording any substantial benefit to the honest but unfortunate trader" (3). 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 Almost as unpopular as its 1801 predecessor, however, it was repealed in 1843.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: $200.00
Book number 85305