The bankruptcy protections that families and the indebted enjoy today are quite different from what the issues those in debt would face centuries ago. There were no protections for people who had debts they could not pay and often they were either sent to prison or a workhouse in order to work of the debts over time. Imagine being in debt with no access to Riverside CA bankruptcy lawyers or federal bankruptcy protections and having to face a decade or more in a workhouse with long hours and no way out. Life was definitely difficult in times past for those with little money.