Final answer:
The colony that provided a new start for English debtors was Georgia, established by James Oglethorpe under the Trustees for the Establishment of the Colony of Georgia. It aimed to transform debtors into productive settlers through smallholding farming on fifty-acre land parcels, offering a reformative and economic independence approach to poverty and crime.
Step-by-step explanation:
Trustee Georgia and English Debtors
The colony that allowed English prisoners in jail for unpaid debts to have a fresh start was Georgia. Under the guidance of James Oglethorpe who chaired a Parliamentary committee on prison reform, Trustee Georgia was established. It was a social experiment aimed at providing insolvent debtors a chance at new beginnings in the Americas. The colony was structured around the concept of smallholding farming, distributing fifty-acre land parcels as a means to foster independence and rehabilitation.
Georgia's formation was influenced by the desire to alleviate poverty and reduce crime due to urbanization in Great Britain. The trustees believed that with land and opportunity, debtors could become productive, law-abiding settlers. Unlike penal colonies in Australia intended for more serious offenders, Georgia represented a more reformative approach to dealing with petty criminals and the indebted poor, offering them land and a chance at self-sufficiency after their service.
Penal colonies, debtor's prisons, and workhouses were part of the British response to criminality and poverty. However, Georgia's unique approach emphasized moral redemption and economic independence instead of mere punishment.