Governments in northern states were not much more likely to feel constrained by new federal civil rights policies when making policy toward the poor. Particularly during the global economic crisis that began in 1873, states and localities intensified measures that targeted the transient poor, with little respect for ideals of due process or equal protection of the laws. Alleged vagrants, paupers, and beggars could be picked up and convicted of crimes without a formal hearing, forced to labor, or removed involuntarily from a jurisdiction.
