Poverty and Local Governments For much of American history, until the mid to late 1800s, local towns, cities, and counties were the main governments that dealt with poor people and poverty relief. Even though colonial and state governments passed ‘‘poor laws’’ (laws dealing with how to help the poor), and the state and national governments sometimes provided extra money during times of great need, it was understood that towns, cities and counties were the ones who dealt with the poor. State governments did not become heavily involved in the issue of poverty until about the mid-1800s. For example, in 1863, Massachusetts became the first state to start a Board of State Charities to coordinate relief to the poor. And the U.S. national government did not become significantly involved in the issue of general poverty relief until President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal programs of the 1930s, in response to the widespread, nationwide poverty of the Great Depression. PROSPERITY AND POVERTY IN THE COLONIES AND EARLY STATES Most Europeans left their homelands to come to the New World because they believed they would be more prosperous in the New World. And, in general, this was often the case. Ample land was available—land that was of course taken or bought from Native Americans, a practice which caused widespread poverty for the American Indians. Although life was difficult at times for the colonists and early white Americans, in general their lives were better than they might have been, had they stayed at home. Poverty, however, was a problem. The colonies and states made ‘‘poor laws,’’ modeled after the English Poor Law of 1601, directing towns, cities, and counties to tax the population and use the money to help those in need. At this time, poverty 3
Previous Page Next Page