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Many people were thrown in jail for not paying their debts.The jails were dirty and often unpleasant.
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Well known financier of the American Revolution, Robert Morris, died in prison while he was serving to pay off his debts. Morris is an example of how anyone could go to prison for their debts.
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Arkansas, Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, and Washington allow debt collectors to arrest debtors.
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The U.S. abolishes federal imprisonment of unpaid debts. States make the same decision around the same time; for it was deemed unconstitutional.
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Dorothea Dix petitioned against the massachusetts legislature against harsh prison conditions. Her petitioning altered the prison conditions for the better and also changed the view that people could be entally ill, not just willfully perverse.
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Most states, including Minnesota, begin outlawing Debtor's Prisons following the Supreme Court ruling that they are unconstitutional.
