As populations continued to grow, many factors increased the needs of the poor throughout many cities in the American colonies.
Cities like Boston and New York saw large increases in poor populations throughout the 18th Century. Leading up to the American Revolution, poor relief funds were between 10 to 35 percent of the budget for all municipal funds. In 1772, roughly one quarter of men could be “classified as having been poor or near poor by the standards of the time”. 1
Factors included:
needy immigrants
frequent wars adding disabled soldiers
refugees from the frontier and Canada
large number of widows and orphans
the seasonal nature of many jobs
the steady rise of the number of illegitimate children who had no legal status
As the American Revolution changed society, some states implemented policies that somewhat liberalized the principle of settlement. Although still emphasizing local control, the policies acknowledged the need for change due to an increase of need. However, in the North the overall structure of the poor laws stayed the same after independence and was enacted to new states that entered the Union in the west. In the South, before the revolution Anglican parishes had been responsible for the care of the poor. However, the system had been struggling to keep pace with need and the Constitutions explicit separation of church and state saw southern jurisdictions move to the northern secular model, albeit it at the county level versus the town level which is how relief was administered in the north. Unlike many European nations, the United States has not had a single legal code that guides social welfare policy throughout the nation. For the first century and a half, most welfare policy was enacted through state policy and court decisions. 1
Due to the increased need, private institutions increased helped in supplementing government assistance to the poor. Many groups, especially religious organizations, but also social organizations, fraternal societies and nationality based groups helped supplement public aid which was needed such to such high demand. 1
Endnotes
From Poor Laws to Welfare State, Fifth Edition. Walter I. Trattner. Chapter 3.