primarily the 1600s. initially small communities characterized by kindness and mutual aid by...
TRANSCRIPT
Primarily the 1600s
Initially small communities characterized by kindness and mutual aid
By mid-1600s indigents started to appear Poor law provisions adopted in Plymouth,
Virginia, Connecticut and Massachusetts Smallest unit of local government handled
poor relief
Boarding out the poor at public expense
Tax relief Free medical attention
Towns didn’t want burden of indigent strangers
Residency requirements instituted that were declared illegal in 1969
Plymouth defined a resident as someone who stayed for 3 months without being expelled
Ships’ masters posted bond for those they brought or return them to home port
Problems with “unsettled poor” in cities and frontier areas due to wars
State treasury sent funds to communities to help nonresidents
Mather – let the idle starve Virginia compulsory labor for the idle Massachusetts had unemployed turned
into indentured servants, whipped and expelled or put in jail
Native people slaughtered if they refused to become “civilized” and Christianized
Negative views of Africans as inferior, uncivilized people
Slaves the responsibility of masters Free blacks denied aid and developed
own self-help mechanisms
Apprenticed in cases of orphans or poor parenting
Attached everyone to a family Provided labor when in short supply,
while training young
Strangers warned away Another category of needy in
community Boarded at homes initially Confined to quarters if perceived
dangerous Beginning of ideas that special care
might be required
Generous and compassionate care for “truly needy” who were attached to a community
Harsh treatment for the voluntarily idle, strangers, and people of color
Some recognition of collective help needed for destitute who had no community