Poverty in early America was caused by many factors, including needy immi- grants, wars that killed or disabled husbands and fathers, seasonal work that left people unemployed for part of the year, illegitimate children, economic depressions, fires, and disease epidemics (Trattner 1994, 33–34). In response to the growing poverty of the cities, and the growing taxes needed to support the poor, many states investigated the problem and wrote reports. The first of these reports came from Massachusetts (the Quincy Report of 1821) and New York (the Yates Report of 1824). Many other states wrote similar reports. Poverty was blamed on personal failings, such as alcohol abuse, and also on the provision of aid itself. Giving help to the able-bodied was believed to cause them to become lazy and disinclined to work. ‘‘Outdoor relief’’—the practice of giving aid to people in their own homes, or in the homes of other families—was thought to be especially harmful. For example, the Quincy Report suggested that the local ‘‘overseers of the poor,’’ who were in charge of distributing outdoor aid, were too compassionate and would rather pamper the poor than see them suffer. The state reports recommended building more poorhouses and workhouses, and restricting the aid given to able-bodied adults. Although the states were investigat- ing the problem, the solution was still thought to be local. Cities and counties were directed to build these institutions for the poor. While many people in the 1800s agreed with the Quincy Report and other state reports—that ‘‘outdoor relief’’ caused pauperism—a Philadelphia printer and book- seller, Mathew Carey, printed, at his own expense, several editions of a pamphlet to refute these charges and to show that poverty was caused by low wages and unem- ployment. Thousands of these free pamphlets were distributed in Pennsylvania in the early part of the 1800s. Other concerned citizens helped to distribute and pay for editions of this pamphlet, ‘‘Plea for the Poor,’’ a portion of which is reprinted elsewhere in this book. Despite the efforts of Carey and other concerned citizens, however, the poor were often blamed for their own problems, and more and more poorhouses were built. POORHOUSES While some of the larger cities built poorhouses in the eighteenth century, at that time most of the country still dealt with the poor by auctioning them off or provid- ing them with help in their own homes. However, in the nineteenth century more and more towns and counties built poorhouses, and by the time of the Civil War in 1860, poorhouses and poor farms were common throughout the country. Why did cities and counties move toward building more poorhouses? One argu- ment was that it would be cheaper to meet the needs of the poor in an institution. Another argument was that, in a controlled environment, the poor could be kept from liquor and other vices, and thus reformed. Another argument was that the able-bodied poor could be separated from the others and sent to workhouses, where they would be forced to work for their food and lodging, thus eliminating the Poverty and Local Governments | 5
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