Poverty in New York, 1783-1825

Résumé du livre

"From colonial times on, most immigrants arrived poor and stayed poor, although their families might advance substantially over several generations. In this new work Professor Mohl takes a look at New York immediately after the revolution, when the city was struggling with heavy immigration, rapid urbanization, and the beginning of industrialism ... Pauperism, in this transitional era, was almost endemic, and the city's attempts to deal with it then were embryonic of today's methods ... From a variety of original sources--almshouse records, newspaper accounts, state and local poor laws, and the minutes of philanthropic organizations--the author is able to bring into view, in very humane terms, the underside of existence in preindustrial New York."--Publisher.