U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for December 11: End of Debt Prison

WASHINGTON, Dec. 11, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

END OF DEBT PRISON

Profile America — Sunday, December 11th. Throughout history, debt had been a criminal offense, with penalties ranging from enslavement to mutilation. In Colonial America, some debtors were branded or whipped in public, but most were thrown in jail--debt being the only crime for which long-term imprisonment was common. But this month in 1821, Kentucky became the first state to abolish debtors' prison. The nation followed with a federal ban in 1832. Americans are fortunate in the more forgiving attitudes toward debt, encouraged by our near universal use of credit. Shortly after the year 2000, nearly three-fourths of U.S. households were indebted. That figure has sunk to 69 percent recently, although at the same time the median amount of household debt increased from $50,971 to $70,000 in constant 2011 dollars. You can find more facts about America's people, places and economy, from the American Community Survey, at www.census.gov.

Sources:
Kane's Famous First Facts, 2815
Debt in history/accessed 10/6/2016: http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2013/12/17 
Americans indebtedness: http://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2013/cb13-51.html

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotion of the U.S. Census Bureau. Statistics and accounts drawn from cited non-Census sources are employed for illustrative or narrative purposes, and are not attested to by the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Audio" in the "Library" pull-down menu). 

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SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau