Poverty: Government Legislation Flashcards
What was the one piece of legislation regarding poverty passed in the reign of Henry VII?
1495 Vagabonds and Beggars Act
First Tudor attempt to deal with the poor. Punishments for vagrancy were introduced and vagrants were to be sent to their home parishes.
Vagabonds, the idle, and suspicious people were to be set in stocks for 3 days and 3 nights with no sustenance but food and bread, then sent out of town.
What were the weaknesses of the 1495 Vagabonds and Beggars Act?
No provision for remedying the problem, just moving offenders from town to town
Made no distinction between the two classes of vagrant: those who chose to beg despite other options and those genuinely seeking employment - both were categorised as vagabonds
Didn’t account for a third category of vagrant: the impotent poor, who were unable to support memselves because of illness, disability, or old age
Spared pregnant women and the extremely sick, but made no provision to help them
Treated poverty as a crime to be punished, rather than a social ill to be alleviated
What legislation addressing the poor was passed in Henry VIII’s reign?
1530 Royal Proclamation
1531 Vagabonds Act
1535 Draft Bill
1536 Act
What did the 1530 Royal Proclamation rule?
Described idleness as the ‘mother and root of all vices’ and ordered that whipping should replace the stocks as punishment for vagabonds
What did the 1531 Vagabonds Act do?
Replaced 1495 act
Distinguished between impotent poor and sturdy beggars by giving the old, the sick, and the disabled licenses to beg
What were the weaknesses of the 1531 Vagabonds Act?
Aside from giving them licenses to beg, no further provision was made for the impotent poor
All able-bodied unemployed were treated alike - failure to acknowledge that a man may wish to work but be unable to find employment
Those genuinely seeking had to choose between starving or breaking the law by begging
Why was the 1531 Vagabonds Act a landmark piece of legislation?
First act to distinguish between different categories of poor
Who wrote the 1535 Draft Bill?
William Marshall
What ideas did the 1535 Draft Bill put forward?
Recognised there was insufficient work available for all men - wanted to tackle this through a programme of public works on roads, forts, harbours, and rivers.
Noice to be given of any available jobs and in the mean time the unemployed to be set to work at reasonable wages.
Impotent poor to be maintained in their parishes.
Scheme to be directed by the ‘Council to Avoid Vagabonds’ and funded by a tax on income and capital.
What was the fate of Marshall’s 1535 Draft Bill?
Never came into effect - rejected by Parliament
BUT, Henry VIII publicly lent his support to the bill
What were the terms of the 1536 Act?
Responsibility for the impotent poor was put on municipal authorities
What were the shortcomings of the 1536 Act?
Measure was Iess sweeping than the 1535 Draft Bill
Still relied on voluntary donations to finance poor relief
What continuity was there between the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII?
All unemployed able-bodied people were grouped together and treated alike
Motivation for finding solutions to poverty was still fear of disorder and unrest, not a desire to genuinely improve people’s quality of life
Due to failure of 1535 Bill (which proposed funding through a tax on income), poor relief was still reliant on voluntary donations
What change was there between the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII?
Beginning of recognition that the able-bodied poor were not necessarily vagrants of their own accord and that there was simply not enough work for everyone
Indication of more progressive attitudes - Henry VIII voiced public support for the 1535 Draft Bill
Quality of poor relief diminished due to the dissolution of the monasteries
What legislation addressing the poor was passed in the reign of Edward VI?
1547 Vagabonds Act
1550 Act
1551 Poor Act
How did the 1547 Vagabonds Act approach vagrancy?
Attempted to suppress vagrancy using extreme punishments
Anybody found to have not worked in 2 years was to be branded with a ‘v’ and enslaved for two years.
Those who attempted to run away were punished with lifelong slavery or, upon a second attempt, execution.
Why was the 1547 Vagabonds Act unsuccessful?
Inadequately enforced due to lack of administrative machinery
JPs reluctant to administer such extreme punishment
Why was the 1547 Vagabonds Act unsuccessful?
Inadequately enforced due to lack of administrative machinery
JPs reluctant to administer such extreme punishment
What did the 1550 Act do?
Replaced the 1547 Act, admitting that the proposed punishments had been overly harsh, and reverted to similar measures as in the 1531 and 1536 Acts.
Vagabonds were to be whipped as a deterrent and sent to their home parish
What did the 1551 Poor Act do?
Made town and parish authorities responsible for appointing two ‘collectors of alms’
Those appointed were to ‘gently ask’ for contributions. Those who refused could be ‘gently exhorted’ and upon further refusal could be referred to the bishop
What continuity was there between the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward?
Continuation of attitude that vagabonds should be punished
Reversion back to terms of 1531 and 1536 Acts - legislation similar to that in Henry’s reign
Contributions towards poor relief were still technically voluntary, and people got away with not paying them
What change was there in Edward VI’s reign?
Introduction of extreme punishments for vagrants - step back in terms of treatment of the poor
BUT this was followed by a recognition that harsher punishment was not the way to go about solving the problem - positive development which informed future policy
Greater pressure put on people to make contributions towards poor relief through ‘persuasion’ by the collectors of alms or intervention by the vicar, churchwarden, or bishop
What legislation did Mary I pass addressing poverty?
Didn’t do much in respect to poverty and vagrancy.
Only legislation passed regarding this was in 1555 when she reinstated licensed begging.
Beggars had to wear badges in order to be easily seen by the authorities and the public -not intended to humiliate the old and infirm beggars but rather to shame their more fortunate neighbours into donating additional alms to support their local poor
What change was there in Mary I’s reign?
No substantial government legislation tackling poverty, BUT Mary did tackle oneof the underlying issues behind poverty by reducing inflation.
She created recoinage plans (combatting inflation caused by debasement) and drafted a book of revenue, significantly improving customs rates
What legislation addressing poverty and vagrancy was passed in Elizabeth I’s reign?
1563 Alms Act
1572 Vagabonds Act
1576 Act for the Relief of the Poor
1598 Act for the Relief of the Poor
1598 Act for the Punishment of Rogues, Vagabonds, and Sturdy Beggars
What did the 1563 Alms Act do?
Took first steps towards a compulsory rate for poor relief (system of voluntary contributions proved inadequate). Continued refusal could lead to being brought before justices and faced imprisonment.
Distinguished between 3 different categories of poor:
- The ‘Deserving Poor’ - the old, young, and sick: provided with ‘outdoor relief’ in the form of clothes, food, or money
- The ‘Deserving Unemployed’ - those willing and able to work but unable to find employment: provided with ‘indoor relief’ in the form of being cared for in almshouses, orphanages, and workhouses. The sick were cared for in hospitals and and apprenticeships were arranged for the young
- The ‘Undeserving Poor’ - those who chose a life of crime or begging: given harsh punishments eg. being beaten through the streets until they arrived at their own parish
What were the weaknesses of the 1563 Alms Act?
Size of contribution made was up to the individual and no provision was made for assessment
What change and continuity did the 1563 Alms Act represent?
Change:
Formal recognition that some able-bodied poor weren’t unemployed by choice
Further provision made for the deserving poor outside of simply giving them licenses to beg
Steps taken towards a compulsory rate for poor relief
Continuity:
Maintained harsh punishments for the undeserving poor
Size of contribution up to the individual
What did the 1572 Vagabonds Act do?
First measure to give an adequate definition of vagrants - all able-bodied men without land or master who would neither accept employment nor explain the source of their livelihood
Exempted properly licensed returning soldiers and sailors, harvest workers, and servants whose masters had dismissed them or died
Licensed begging in parishes where relief could not be provided.
Compulsory for everyone who owned land in the parish to contribute to the relief of the poor in their parish. provided for assessment of compulsory weekly contributions.
Anyone over 14 found begging without a Iicence would he whipped though the streets, have a hole bored through their ear, and even be executed.
Under 14 s caught begging without licence where merely whipped
Children of convicted beggars aged 5-14 were put to service in honest occupations
What was the weakness of the 1572 Vagabonds Act?
Insufficient administrative machinery - only new office established was Overseer of the Poor.
Quality of execution of this position was doubtful as the overseer was unpaid and could not refuse the office. The act was administered entirely at local level so no mechanism was created to oversee the work of Iocal officials.
Doubtful that the act was even put into effect as it was passed in a period of good harvests
What did the 1576 Act for the Relief of the Poor do?
Gave the able-bodied who had suffered loss of possessions and those with particular needs licenses to beg
Ruled that all large towns were to provide a store of wool, hemp, flax, or iron so that the idle poor could be put to work and earn honest wages
persistent beggars to be sent to Houses of Correction, of which there would be 2 per county
Towns required to find work for the unemployed
How did the 1598 Act for the Relief of the Poor tackle vagrancy?
Begging forbidden
4 Overseers of the poor appointed by JPs - duty to provide stocks of material for the able-bodied, dispense mong, clothes, and food to the aged and infirm, supervise the parish poor house, and collect the poor rate from property owners
Families of the ‘impotent’ encouraged to provide for them
All pauper children to be apprenticed until 24 (m) or 21(f)
Encouraged private endowment of facilities for the poor
What triggered the 1598 Acts?
A series of bad harvests
How did the 1598 Act for the Punishment of Rogues, Vagabonds, and Sturdy Beggars change punishment of vagrants?
Ear-boring ended
Sturdy beggars to be whipped through the streets and returned to their birthplace or the last place they lived (parallels with 1563 Act) and subsequently sent to a House of Correction or prison until a job was available
Dangerous rogues banished or sent to the galleys
What did the 1601 Act for the Relief of the Poor do?
Made the 1598 Poor Law, which had previously been temporary, permanent.
This is what became known as the Elizabethan Poor Law
What continuity from previous poor legislation was there in the Elizabethan era?
1572 Act implemented harsh punishments for vagrants, similarly to the 1547 Act during Edward’s reign
Lack of enforcement of Acts meant that towns often found it easier to revert to previous legislation
eg. 1601 Poor law established complex machinery to deal with the poor, but it was rarely invoked by towns as it was a hassle to set up and was expensive so towns reverted to traditional methods of whipping vagrantes and sending them to their place of origin
Deterrence rather than reform was still the strategy adopted by local officials to discourage beggars. Attitude was still that if punishment was seen to be severe in a certain locality it would attract less beggars
What change was there in the Elizabethan era?
Introduction of harsher punishment in the form of legal action in 1563 for those who avoided contributions towards poor relief
Recognition of able-bodied men who were unemployed through no fault of their own
1572 Act: Made contributions to poor revier compulsory AND gave the first adequate definition of vagrants
1601 Poor Law comprehensively provided relief for the poor based on their classification:
Impotent poor cared for in an almshouse or poorhouse
Able-bodied poor set to work in a house of industry
Idle poor sent to houses of correction
What were the weaknesses of the Elizabethan poor laws?
Established such complex machinery that local towns found it easier and less expensive to revert to previous legislation and traditional methods such as whipping and returning vagrants to their home parish
Existence of private charity meant that the Poor Law was only invoked in emergency situations eg. plague and economic distress
Disincentive to operate the poor rate - the more efficient a town’s charitable services became, the more beggars and vagrants would be attracted
