Debtors Prisons (Listener Request)

In the early days of the republic, thousands of European settlers made the journey to the new world, often without any money with which to support themselves or the costs associated with crossing The Atlantic. To pay for this cost, many individuals entered into indenture service contracts to work it off until their balance was paid in full. However, as credit expanded and debts soared, so too did the punishment for failure to pay. Debtors prisons, as they became known, were a product of t...