Overview
It has often been said that early America was the ""best poor man’s country in the world."" After all, wasn’t there an abundance of land and a scarcity of laborers? The law of supply and demand would seem to dictate that most early American working people enjoyed high wages and a decent material standard of living. Down and Out in Early America presents the evidence for poverty versus plenty and concludes that financial insecurity was a widespread problem that plagued many early Americans. The fact is that in early America only an extremely thin margin separated those who required assistance from those who were able to secure independently the necessities of life. The reasons for this were many: seasonal and cyclical unemployment, inadequate wages, health problems (including mental illness), alcoholism, a large pool of migrants, low pay for women, abandoned families. The situation was made worse by the inability of many communities to provide help for the poor except to incarcerate them in workhouses and almshouses. The essays in this volume explore the lives and strategies of people who struggled with destitution, evaluate the changing forms of poor relief, and examine the political, religious, gender, and racial aspects of poverty in early North America. Down and Out in Early America features a distinguished lineup of historians. In the first chapter, Gary B. Nash surveys the scholarship on poverty in early America and concludes that historians have failed to appreciate the numerous factors that generated widespread indigence. Philip D. Morgan examines poverty among slaves while Jean R. Soderlund looks at the experience of Native Americans in New Jersey. In the other essays, Monique Bourque, Ruth Wallis Herndon, Tom Humphrey, Susan E. Klepp, John E. Murray, Simon Newman, J. Richard Olivas, and Karin Wulf look at the conditions of poverty across regions, making this the most complete and comprehensive work of its kind.
Full Product Details
Author: Billy G. Smith (Michael P. Malone Professor of History, Montana State University)
Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press
Imprint: Pennsylvania State University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.60cm
, Height: 2.50cm
, Length: 23.50cm
Weight: 0.567kg
ISBN: 9780271023175
ISBN 10: 0271023171
Pages: 352
Publication Date: 15 January 2004
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Awaiting stock
The supplier is currently out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you and placed on backorder. Once it does come back in stock, we will ship it out for you.
Reviews
These essays portend a new, exciting stage in poverty and poor relief studies. -Robert E. Cray, Jr., Journal of American History Billy Smith brings together an impressive group of scholars who examine poverty in a wide range of settings. The resulting essays are remarkable not only for their inclusiveness but also for the way they give a truly human face to the poor. Down and Out in Early America is an important contribution to the scholarship on early America. -John K. Alexander, University of Cincinnati
Billy Smith brings together an impressive group of scholars who examine poverty in a wide range of settings. The resulting essays are remarkable not only for their inclusiveness but also for the way they give a truly human face to the poor. Down and Out in Early America is an important contribution to the scholarship on early America. -John K. Alexander, University of Cincinnati These essays portend a new, exciting stage in poverty and poor relief studies. -Robert E. Cray, Jr., Journal of American History
These essays portend a new, exciting stage in poverty and poor relief studies. Robert E. Cray, Jr., Journal of American History
“Billy Smith brings together an impressive group of scholars who examine poverty in a wide range of settings. The resulting essays are remarkable not only for their inclusiveness but also for the way they give a truly human face to the poor. Down and Out in Early America is an important contribution to the scholarship on early America.” —John K. Alexander, University of Cincinnati “These essays portend a new, exciting stage in poverty and poor relief studies.” —Robert E. Cray, Jr., Journal of American History
“Billy Smith brings together an impressive group of scholars who examine poverty in a wide range of settings. The resulting essays are remarkable not only for their inclusiveness but also for the way they give a truly human face to the poor. Down and Out in Early America is an important contribution to the scholarship on early America.” —John K. Alexander, University of Cincinnati “These essays portend a new, exciting stage in poverty and poor relief studies.” —Robert E. Cray, Jr. Journal of American History
Billy smith brings together an impressive group of scholars who examine poverty in a wide range of settings. The resulting essays are remarkable not only for their inclusiveness but also for the way they give a truly human face to the poor.
These essays portend a new, exciting stage in poverty and poor relief studies. </p>--Robert E. Cray, Jr., <em>Journal of American History</em></p>
<p> These essays portend a new, exciting stage in poverty and poor relief studies. <p>--Robert E. Cray, Jr., Journal of American History
Author Information
Billy G. Smith is Professor of History at Montana State University. He has edited two Penn State Press books: The Infortunate: The Voyages and Adventures of William Moraley, an Indentured Servant (with Susan Klepp; 1992) and Life in Early Philadelphia: Documents from the Revolutionary and Early National Periods (1995).
