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Charles W. Mooney, Jrbegin by noting the dearth of evidence concerning its origins and underlyingpurposes. 49 There is a good case to be made that its originsderive in substantial part from the federalism concerns that underliediversity jurisdiction of the federal courts. 50 “[U]niform Laws onthe subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States,” 51 then,like federal courts in the diversity jurisdiction context, could providea more neutral system that would be less biased in favor of localparties. While this federalism-related explanation carries significantweight, scholars continue to ponder the purposes and scope of theBankruptcy Clause. 52193I am aware of no evidence that the Framers considered the possibilitythat the Bankruptcy Clause might empower Congress to enacta law that would allow the U.S. government to discharge its debts.But surely that does not resolve the issue. I also am unaware of anysign that they considered municipal bankruptcies, but provisionsfor municipal bankruptcies have been on the books for more thanlieve him of his obligations to pay the underlying debts.” Bruce H. Mann, Republicof Debtors: Bankruptcy in the Age of American Independence 80 (2002). On theother hand, “bankruptcy laws accomplished the same end [as insolvency laws] butalso discharged the debtor from liability for unpaid debts.” Id., Within a few years,however, the Bankruptcy Clause was understood to empower Congress to enact eithertype of law. Jonathan C. Lipson, Debt and Democracy: Towards a ConstitutionalTheory of Bankruptcy, 83 Notre Dame L. Rev. 605, 633 (2008) [hereinafter, Lipson,Democracy]. Accordingly, I use the terms bankruptcy, bankruptcy law, and bankruptcyproceedings in this broad sense.49 See generally, e.g., David A. Skeel, Jr., Debt’s Dominion: A History of BankruptcyLaw in America 3, 23-47 (2001) [hereinafter Skeel, Debt’s Dominion], citing TheFederalist No. 42 (James Madison) (Clinton Rossiter ed., 1961):Almost the only contemporary evidence of the meaning or importance of uniformbankruptcy comes in the Federalist No. 42. Written by James Madison,Federalist No. 42 describes federal bankruptcy legislation as intimately connectedwith the regulation of commerce, and necessary to prevent debtors from fleeingto another state to evade local enforcement of their obligations.50 See Charles W. Mooney, Jr., A Normative Theory of Bankruptcy Law: BankruptcyAs (Is) Civil Procedure, 61 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 931, 982-90 (2004) [hereinafter,Mooney, Normative Theory].51 U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 4.52 See, e.g., Skeel, Debt’s Dominion at 23 (quoted supra note 49); Lipson, Democracy,supra note 48; Thomas Plank, Bankruptcy and Federalism, 71 Fordham L. Rev. 1063,1090 n.106 (2002).; Charles Jordan Tabb, The History of the Bankruptcy Laws in theUnited States, 3 Am Bankr. Inst. L. Rev. 5, 7-11 (1995).