Mississippi also joined a growing movement to improve conditions in prisons. Men, women and children were often cramped together in cold damp rooms , when food supplies were low, prisoners went hungry unless they had money to buy meals from jailers. 5 out of six people in northern jails were in debt and could not pay the money they owed while behind bars people indebt had no way to earn money to pay back their debts as a result. Many prisoners who owed debts remained in prison for years. Use the passage to answer the question, based on this excerpt from the text, how did the jailing of people in debt hurt their chances of repaying their debts? They were unable to work? They spent their money on food? They cannot repaid that sometime? Or they often did not survive prison conditions?
Based on the excerpt, the jailing of people in debt hurt their chances of repaying their debts because they were unable to work. The passage highlights that prisoners had no way to earn money to pay back their debts while in prison, resulting in many of them remaining in prison for years.
