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Letter to Editor
August 4, 1846
Alexandria Gazette
Alexandria, Alexandria County, District Of Columbia
What is this article about?
A letter in the Gazette celebrates the 1846 congressional abolition of imprisonment for debt in the District of Columbia, portraying it as a profound advancement in personal freedom and human dignity, free from the cruel arrests common in neighboring states. (Signed Beccaria.)
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THE GAZETTE.
TUESDAY MORNING, AUGUST 4, 1846.
[COMMUNICATED.]
When a people are called upon to change their political state or society, they should examine the effects and consequences attendant on such change. At this time, in respect of personal freedom, the people of this District are in an enviable position. Their persons are free from imprisonment for debt. It is a great, a glorious, and inestimable privilege. It is one of the greatest and best of all liberty a human being can enjoy.
They are now freed from the hands of the officers of the law to seize upon their persons and deprive them of that liberty to which they are entitled by the laws of nature and of God. They now enjoy a sacred right to which they have been restored by the enlightened and humane legislation of Congress. Freedom of the person from imprisonment for debt is now the law of the District of Columbia, thanks be to the wisdom and mercy of that Congress which broke the chain of tyranny which had hitherto bound the destiny of the debtor.
His property is subject to the payment of his debts, and the social contract is fulfilled. His person is free, he is restored to his true and proper dignity. Imprisonment for civil debts, in the language of a distinguished author, is a most cruel outrage, invented and maintained by avarice on the primitive contract.
Here in this county the people now possess personal liberty in the highest degree in the scale of humanity. Their persons are free from cruel and barbarous arrest, and the father and the husband cannot now be seized by the officer and separated from his wife and children. The asylum of man is rendered dearer to him and more sacred in the eye of the law.
Every man in the District of Columbia, by reason of the great privilege he now enjoys in his civil condition, is happier than his neighbors in the adjoining States. That Congress which exonerated the human body from arrest for debt, deserves our gratitude, and is entitled to the thanks of mankind.
How infinitely preferable is that system to the barbarous practice of imprisonment for debt, attended with all its revolting and cruel consequences. Imprisonment for debt, for a second of time, an hour, a day, a year, or for life, is a violation of the sacred and inalienable rights of man.
BECCARIA.
TUESDAY MORNING, AUGUST 4, 1846.
[COMMUNICATED.]
When a people are called upon to change their political state or society, they should examine the effects and consequences attendant on such change. At this time, in respect of personal freedom, the people of this District are in an enviable position. Their persons are free from imprisonment for debt. It is a great, a glorious, and inestimable privilege. It is one of the greatest and best of all liberty a human being can enjoy.
They are now freed from the hands of the officers of the law to seize upon their persons and deprive them of that liberty to which they are entitled by the laws of nature and of God. They now enjoy a sacred right to which they have been restored by the enlightened and humane legislation of Congress. Freedom of the person from imprisonment for debt is now the law of the District of Columbia, thanks be to the wisdom and mercy of that Congress which broke the chain of tyranny which had hitherto bound the destiny of the debtor.
His property is subject to the payment of his debts, and the social contract is fulfilled. His person is free, he is restored to his true and proper dignity. Imprisonment for civil debts, in the language of a distinguished author, is a most cruel outrage, invented and maintained by avarice on the primitive contract.
Here in this county the people now possess personal liberty in the highest degree in the scale of humanity. Their persons are free from cruel and barbarous arrest, and the father and the husband cannot now be seized by the officer and separated from his wife and children. The asylum of man is rendered dearer to him and more sacred in the eye of the law.
Every man in the District of Columbia, by reason of the great privilege he now enjoys in his civil condition, is happier than his neighbors in the adjoining States. That Congress which exonerated the human body from arrest for debt, deserves our gratitude, and is entitled to the thanks of mankind.
How infinitely preferable is that system to the barbarous practice of imprisonment for debt, attended with all its revolting and cruel consequences. Imprisonment for debt, for a second of time, an hour, a day, a year, or for life, is a violation of the sacred and inalienable rights of man.
BECCARIA.
What sub-type of article is it?
Persuasive
Ethical Moral
Philosophical
What themes does it cover?
Constitutional Rights
Crime Punishment
Morality
What keywords are associated?
Imprisonment For Debt
Personal Liberty
District Of Columbia
Congress Legislation
Debtor Rights
Civil Arrest Abolition
What entities or persons were involved?
Beccaria.
Letter to Editor Details
Author
Beccaria.
Main Argument
the letter praises the recent congressional legislation abolishing imprisonment for debt in the district of columbia, highlighting it as a restoration of natural and divine rights to personal liberty, superior to barbarous practices in other states.
Notable Details
References Laws Of Nature And Of God
Cites A Distinguished Author On Imprisonment For Debt As A Cruel Outrage Invented By Avarice
Contrasts Dc's Enlightened System With Adjoining States