TOPIC 02: The First National Policy in Great Britain

As was obvious in several of the quotes from the previous slide, women were seen as property and were denied the more basic rights of citizenship, including decision making and property ownership.  They were frequently treated as chattel or as property.

Similarly, children were often seen as less than human and the property of their parents. They, too, were unable to own property or make decisions for themselves. The Elizabethan Poor Law required that parishes and counties provide work or apprenticeships for children who were orphaned or whose parents were unable to support them. This provision evidenced a growing awareness of the vulnerable status of children but did not address any of the abuses or exploitation children faced during this historical period.

Indigenous people had diverse and extensive communities within North America that significantly predated the arrival of European immigrants.  Early European settlers often saw these original Americans as impediments to the acquisition of land and resources.  Eventually, the policy within the colonies and later nation would be eradication. Eradication included forced removal of indigenous people from their land, purposeful introduction of disease into indigenous communities, war. murder, and eventually attempts to annihilate the population through forced assimilation, (for example, boarding schools).

Indigenous people rarely benefitted or participated in the early charitable efforts within the colonies as they had their own forms of mutual aid and were excluded from decision making/charity due to racism.

While slavery was practiced at this time, there were African American people who lived as free people. However, the racism that justified slavery also excluded these free people from benefiting or participating in mainstream charitable activities. In response, free African Americans developed their own systems of aid whereby they provided assistance to members of their own community when needed.