An analysis of the origin of the Federal court system concludes it was established to address what the framers of the Constitution considered to be major problems intrinsic to the economic history of the 1780's, notably the orientation of State legislatures and courts toward the interests of a debtor, pre-capitalist majority of the citizenry. This did not please those committed to the competitive individualism of capitalism. The Federal court system was established to address these interests. This article analyzes these issues as they were debated within the Constitutional Convention and the ensuing struggle for ratification. The compromises resulting from this struggle are identified as the core of the Judiciary Act of 1789, which provided the framework of the national judiciary. The discussion indicates that many parts of the act reflect the battles between debtors and creditors in the new Republic. This analysis concludes that the greatest surprise of the history of the invention of the national judiciary is that the compromises written into the 1789 Judiciary Act largely favored debtors. Appended supplementary information and 370 footnotes