Introduction to Social Policy Before 1878

Social policies were not primary concerns of the U.S. federal or state governments in the early nineteenth century. Private relief organizations were primarily located in cities; many addressed only the most needy. With little government investment in social policy, many lived on a thin line between solvency and destitution. Insurance, credit, and loans were rarities; there were no fail-safes in the event of unemployment. There were no subsidies for the aged, save for pensions provided from employers or community associations.

Government was not wholly absent from social policy. From the time of the ratification of the Bill of Rights, the Eighth Amendment (barring cruel and unusual punishment) guided the criminal justice and prison systems. Prison reform advocates ensured that conditions improved. Debtor's prisons, such as Fleet Prison profiled in this chapter, were outlawed in both England and the United States in the nineteenth century. State and local governments invested in public education. In the United States, the first state made elementary education compulsory in 1852. Ten years later, the federal government created the land-grant universities through the Morrill Act.

During the Civil War and Reconstruction, the federal government took a more active role in social policy. The enactment of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments fundamentally changed the social system of the nation and laid the groundwork for other changes to come. With the creation of the Freedman's Bureau, the government aided the establishment of schools, clinics, and other immediate aid programs for former slaves. The Homestead Act opened the American west to settlement, promising families plots of land to farm and develop.

Rapid population growth and the rise of the cities were also significant in the early nineteenth century. By 1842, New York and London shared many of the same problems—poor public health, tenement slums, and crime. English author and journalist Charles Dickens recorded his impressions of New York's tenements, most especially its notorious Five Points neighborhood. Private relief organizations became more common and pushed for reforms.

A few years later, immigration to the United States dramatically increased. The influx of immigrants fleeing famine in Ireland changed the character of both American cities and social reform movements. As poor neighborhoods became ethnic enclaves, many associated the problems of the slums with ethnic stereotypes. Anti-immigrant sentiment drove the formation of a political party, the Know-Nothings. By 1870, U.S. anti-immigrant sentiment had shifted its target from the Irish in the East to Chinese laborers in the West. The increasing Asian immigrant population was viewed as a social concern. Many Americans held deep prejudices and regarded Asian immigrants as worthless and a threat to American society, as evidenced by the cartoon in this chapter.