Soon after the euphoria of making a new nation died off, details had to be worked out about taxes, government, that sort of thing. Inevitably, some first white Americans went bankrupt. The first bankruptcy law didn't come about until 1800, which would be repealed in 1803. And basically, the pattern for the United States Bankruptcy Court was set. The second bankruptcy law didn't come into being until 1837, and was also repealed in 1843. After the Civil War, yet another ping-pong bankruptcy law was enacted in 1867 and repealed in 1878. Clearly, the founding fathers of this nation had a little more on their minds than revamping bankruptcy law. But they didn't completely ignore it. Bankruptcy is mentioned in the Constitution (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 4).
Order In The Court
There is no one Big Kahuna United States Bankruptcy Court that you can go visit on your Washington DC vacation. But there are specific United States Bankruptcy Courts in all of the legal districts of the nation. The buildings themselves are usually quite unimpressive. It is not architecture that makes up the United States Bankruptcy Court, but writings, especially the United States Bankruptcy Code.
The United States Bankruptcy Court has always been one of the most humane and foreword thinking distributors of bankruptcy justice. In times past, the debtor was usually beaten up and/or thrown into jail for not paying the bills. In America, instead of throwing debtor's into prison, the debtor is usually given a change to take a breath and get reorganized to make a new start.
The current United States Bankruptcy Code, which went into effect in 1978, replaced the original Bankruptcy Act of 1898. This code, like most of American law, isn't set in stone. It can be amended and has been many times since 1978. The latest major change was in 2005 under the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act.
Rise In Bankruptcies
As the American population has risen, so has the rate of bankruptcies. This especially put a strain on the United States Bankruptcy Court in the late 1980"s and early 1990's, so many reforms have been made to make the bankruptcy process as quick as possible for both businesses and individuals needing to declare bankruptcy.
However, the cost of absolutely everything has also skyrocketed, which most likely is a leading cause of bankruptcy. But, until the day that prices come down or wages rise to where we can actually live on them alone, we Americans can at least take comfort in the United States Bankruptcy Court system.
