Elizabethan Poor Law Essay
As America moved into the 19th century following the Revolution and the establishment of the Constitution and a United States, there was a movement to bring about more humane treatment for youth. In 1816, a group of influential citizens, including the Quaker educator John Griscom, organized the Society for the Prevention of Pauperism (SPP). This society, which operated in cities such as New York, Philadelphia, and Boston, focused on “ragged and uncleanly” youth, who used “vile language,” and who were idle and had “miserable habits” (Hart, 1832, p. 13). These children were encouraged to be dishonest and the concern of the influential citizens was that in due time these young people would become “responsible to the law for their crimes” (Hart,
…show more content…
Going back to the colonial days, there was considerable concern about poor families and how they would be cared for. But it was English policies, brought to America by the expatriate colonists, that set the stage for the approach to what were basically “child welfare” issues. In England, the Elizabethan Poor Law of 1601 was the most influential of the British approaches to dealing with the poor. The Elizabethan Poor Law directed parents to accept responsibility for the support of their children. Furthermore, the Elizabethan Poor Law not only held parents, particularly fathers, liable for supporting their children, but also contained a belief that child poverty resulted from the moral failings of parents (Grossberg, 2002). There were also three aspects of the influence of Elizabethan Poor Law that colonists carried with them to the New World. One was a belief that poor families were a local problem. Second, the notion that families had responsibility for supporting their children. And, three, that there was a distinction between the deserving poor and the undeserving poor, and this distinction had to do with ideas of work, gender, and age (Grossberg, 2002). Colonists felt better about contributing funds to help the deserving poor; they were less willing to help the undeserving
Going back to the colonial days, there was considerable concern about poor families and how they would be cared for. But it was English policies, brought to America by the expatriate colonists, that set the stage for the approach to what were basically “child welfare” issues. In England, the Elizabethan Poor Law of 1601 was the most influential of the British approaches to dealing with the poor. The Elizabethan Poor Law directed parents to accept responsibility for the support of their children. Furthermore, the Elizabethan Poor Law not only held parents, particularly fathers, liable for supporting their children, but also contained a belief that child poverty resulted from the moral failings of parents (Grossberg, 2002). There were also three aspects of the influence of Elizabethan Poor Law that colonists carried with them to the New World. One was a belief that poor families were a local problem. Second, the notion that families had responsibility for supporting their children. And, three, that there was a distinction between the deserving poor and the undeserving poor, and this distinction had to do with ideas of work, gender, and age (Grossberg, 2002). Colonists felt better about contributing funds to help the deserving poor; they were less willing to help the undeserving