Gabriel Loiacono's Books

How Welfare Worked in the Early United States

Five Microhistories

By: Gabriel J. Loiacono,Gabriel Loiacono

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How Welfare Worked in the Early United States

Five Microhistories

By: Gabriel J. Loiacono,Gabriel Loiacono

Two Centuries Ago, Americans paid for-and relied on-an astonishing government system that provided food, housing, and medical care to those in need. How Welfare Worked in the Early United States: Five Microhistories tells stories of "poor relief" through the lives of five people: a long-serving overseer of the poor, a Continental Army veteran who was banished from town, a nurse who was paid by the government to care for the poor an unwed mother who cared for the elderly and struggled to remain with her daughter, and a young paralyzed man who worked as a Christian missionary inside a poorhouse. Of Native, African, and English descent, these five Rhode Islanders' life stories show how poor relief actually worked. Students of history and of today's social provision have much to learn about how welfare worked in the early United States. Book jacket.

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Page Count

249

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0197515436

ISBN 13

9780197515433

How Welfare Worked in the Early United States

Five Microhistories

By: Gabriel J. Loiacono

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How Welfare Worked in the Early United States

Five Microhistories

By: Gabriel J. Loiacono

What was American welfare like in George Washington's day? It was expensive, extensive, and run by local governments. Known as "poor relief," it included what we would now call welfare and social work. Unlike other aspects of government, poor relief remained consistent in structure between the establishment of the British colonies in the 1600s and the New Deal of the 1930s. In this book, Gabriel J. Loiacono follows the lives of five people in Rhode Island between the Revolutionary War and 1850: a long-serving overseer of the poor, a Continental Army veteran who was repeatedly banished from town, a nurse who was paid by the government to care for the poor, an unwed mother who cared for the elderly, and a paralyzed young man who attempted to become a Christian missionary from inside of a poorhouse. Of Native, African, and English descent, these five Rhode Islanders utilized poor relief in various ways. Tracing their involvement with these programs, Loiacono explains the importance of welfare through the first few generations of United States history. In Washington's day, poor relief was both generous and controlling. Two centuries ago, Americans paid for--and many relied on--an astonishing governmental system that provided food, housing, and medical care to those in need. This poor relief system also shaped American households and dictated where Americans could live and work. Recent generations have assumed that welfare is a new development in the United States. This book shows how old welfare is in the United States of America through five little-known, but compelling, life stories.

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176

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Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0197515452

ISBN 13

9780197515457

How Welfare Worked in the Early United States

5 Microhistories

By: Gabriel Loiacono

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How Welfare Worked in the Early United States

5 Microhistories

By: Gabriel Loiacono

The year George Washington was finishing his first term as president, 1792, William Larned was beginning his first term as overseer of the poor for Providence, Rhode Island. Larned would be re-elected for another thirty-five one-year terms and arguably exercised more authority over locals than any president could. Larned's long career in this little-known but powerful local government position illustrates several aspects of early American poor laws. Overseers of the poor could be life-savers to locals in need. They could also upend lives, forcing families out of town. They controlled the largest portion of local tax dollars, which dwarfed state and federal tax levies from the individual taxpayer's perspective. Overseers used these tax dollars to provide food, housing, healthcare, and other necessaries to people in need. An ancillary benefit was that these dollars also buoyed the incomes of local government relief contractors"--

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ISBN 10

0197515460

ISBN 13

9780197515464

Book's by Gabriel Loiacono

How Welfare Worked in the Early United States

How Welfare Worked in the Early United States

How Welfare Worked in the Early United States

How Welfare Worked in the Early United States

How Welfare Worked in the Early United States

How Welfare Worked in the Early United States

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