A Ruthless Landlord

"...in 1786, when a landlord in Cumberland County [Pennsylvania] had the local constable auction the cow and horse of a tenant farmer named William McKinney, who had fallen 10 [pounds] behind on his rent. McKinney had 'begged' his landlord to 'take hogs or grain in the ground and property of value or notes equal to cash, and spare my milch cow and my plow horse for the sake of my family.' But the landlord had refused, leaving McKinney in 'the utmost distress." Resigned to the sale of his property, McKinney hoped at least to keep court costs to a minimum. 'On the day of the sale the constable came for the property, I desired he would sell them on the premises as it was a public place,' McKinney remembered, 'but he refused to do it and drove them a mile further and sold them there, for which he charged me four shillings.' Having lost even this small concession, things looked bleak.

Then, at the auction site, a miracle seemed to happen. When the constable began the bidding, McKinney's landlord arrived and halted the auction. McKinney recalled that his landlord 'made a proposal before the public that he would buy all for me and return the goods (to me) which stopped the intended buyers from bidding.' It seemed that McKinney's landlord--the man whose lawsuit had brought matters to this disastrous end--had changed his mind and come to save the day for his tenant. Compelled by this emotional scene, the other potential buyers agreed to tender no bids so that the landlord could purchase McKinney's property at a bare minimum.

Not long after the crowd had dispersed, the miracle vanished. Despite the landlord's public promises, he kept the cow and the other possessions for himself. He had rigged the auction to keep others from bidding so he could obtain his tenant's belongings for virtually nothing. The landlord also refused to erase the 10 [pound] debt. The case continued, and on 'the orders of the landlord, the constable came eight or ten days after and sold a horse' of McKinney's." --Terry Bouton, Taming Democracy: "The People," the Founders, and the Troubled Ending of the American Revolution

There was a severe scarcity of money--either paper or specie--in American during the 1780s. Despite the fact that the British government had always ensured a trade deficit with America, such that more gold and silver left America than went into it, such trade ensured that Americans saw at least some money in their economy. After the war, there was very little specie to be had anywhere. Unfortunately, many states' taxes on their citizens were payable only in specie! There wasn't even much paper money in circulation. State governments were pressured by American creditors not to print any paper money because they didn't want their debtors to pay them in inflated money--which is what almost always happened to paper money throughout the war years. Many Americans, especially in the countryside, were therefore reduced to a primitive bartering system--except when it came time to pay creditors and the government. Poor McKinney!