Until Justice Be Done: America's First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction

by Kate Masur

The core idea in the English poor-law tradition was that families and communities were obliged to provide for their own dependent poor, but not for transients and strangers. The most privileged people were those with a legal “settlement.” People who were legally settled in a local jurisdiction were recognized as permanent residents. If they became needy and had nowhere to turn, they might be able to draw on the public poor-relief fund. By contrast, local authorities were under no obligation to help residents who had no legal settlement. Officials could expel such people from the jurisdiction, sending them back to their place of origin. Even people considered likely to become a public charge could face regulation and removal. Settlement law made no pretense of treating everyone equally. Its main orientation was not individual rights but community well-being, and in this context, persons who were perceived as economically and socially independent had far more privileges than those who were not.