Colonial Poverty

In the beginning, widespread poverty that largely affected life in Europe did not cross the Atlantic and impact the newly formed colonies. Unlike the harsh conditions in England like unemployment, starvation, and disease, the colonies were thought to offer an abundance of opportunities. Gradually, each colony developed problems of poverty as settlers struggled to overcome challenges like illness and deprivation. They now were forced to confront the new and increasing concern of how to deal with the issue of caring for the poor.

A scarce population and the isolation of early settlements created a strong sense of community solidarity, which led to feelings of social responsibility for the relief of the poor. With more and more people coming to America, the issue of dealing with poverty became increasingly more complex and as a result, they turned to the English Poor Laws to reestablish socioeconomic order.

Dutch colonies established a secular system of poor relief, which have officers of the Dutch Reformed Church authority to raise and distribute money to the poor through voluntary collections. This starkly contrasted traditions of the English poor laws, which under Protestant influence separated itself from religious means of poor relief.

Some seventeenth century Americans recognized need as a natural part of social organization and therefore viewed poor persons as irresponsible for their condition.   Patterned after English Poor Laws of the seventeenth century, the colonists sought to restore order and alleviate poverty by assigning local responsibility to the care of the poor. Showing a strong sense of civic responsibility, colonies spent significant amounts of money on public relief because they were more concerned with providing quality care for the poor than in cutting back on welfare costs.

By the eighteenth century, the American Revolution and documents like the Declaration of Independence sparked an age of humanitarianism because of the emphasis on reason and human equality. This led to a more fervent attack on eliminating poverty because in order for a new nation to serve as a beacon of hope and prosperity, the problem of poverty needed to be eradicated.

As the eighteenth century progressed, and the United States worked to establish itself as a nation, poverty as an issue would transform and grow in complexity, leading to the creation of more refined Poor Laws in the nineteenth century.

(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons, Poor White Folks by James Henry Beard)