What Was A Debtor’s Prison?

Debtor's prison was a prison for people who could not pay off their debts. This was common practise in some European countries as well as United States of America prior to 19th century. In 1833 United States abolished this practise at the federal level and the states gradually followed in doing the same. In 1869 United Kingdom also passed a similar act which did away with this practise of imprisonment for debt. This act was called the Debtors Act. In this act people who truly did not have the means to pay their debt could escape imprisonment whereas who had the means but still did not pay could be put behind bars for up to six weeks.

Debtor's prisons are known to have allowed different amount of freedom to different people based on their ability to pay money. For reasonable amounts of money they were allowed to run business of see visitors at the place of confinement.
Several prominent personalities went to debtor's prison too. Some such names are father of the famous novelist Charles Dickens, inventor Charles Goodyear, and Robert Morris, who was one of the signers of the United States Declaration of Independence.

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