The Logic of Charity: Amsterdam, 1800–1850

258 Pages·2000·0.86 MB·English

by  Marco H. D. van Leeuwen (auth.)

The Logic of Charity
Amsterdam, 1800–1850
Marco H.D. van Leeuwen
The Logic of Charity
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The Logic of Charity
Amsterdam, 1800–1850
Marco H. D. van Leeuwen
Senior Researcher
Netherlands Economic History Archives
Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Translated by Arnold J. Pomerans
First published in Great Britain 2000 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London
Companies and representatives throughout the world
Acatalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-349-40200-7 ISBN 978-0-230-59700-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230597006
First published in the United States of America 2000 by
ST. MARTIN’S PRESS, INC.,
Scholarly and Reference Division,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010
ISBN 978-0-312-22853-8
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Leeuwen, Marco H. D. van, 1958–
[Bijstand in Amsterdam, ca. 1800–1850. English]
The logic of charity : Amsterdam, 1800–1850 / Marco H.D. van Leeuwen
; translated by Arnold J. Pomerans.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-312-22853–8 (cloth)
1. Public welfare—Netherlands—Amsterdam—History—19th century.
2. Amsterdam (Netherlands)—Social policy. I. Title.
HV310.A6L4413 1999
362.9492'392—dc21 99–40411
CIP
©Marco H. D. van Leeuwen 2000
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2000
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made
without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written
permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright
Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P0LP.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to
criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained
forest sources.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00
To Henk and Joyce
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Contents
List of Tables ix
List of Figures xi
List of Plates xii
List of Maps xiii
Preface xiv
Acknowledgements xv
1 A Simple Model of Poor Relief in Preindustrial Europe 1
1.1 Simple questions and general principles 1
1.2 The elites and poor relief 5
1.3 The poor and poor relief 13
1.4 Interdependence 22
1.5 The effects of poor relief 24
1.6 Procedure 28
1.7 Summary 31
2 Poverty and Riches 36
2.1 General outline 36
2.2 Income structure 41
2.3 Social segregation 43
2.4 The organization of poor relief 49
2.5 Summary 53
3 Poor Relief as a Control Strategy 54
3.1 Charity administrators 54
3.2 Relief policies 68
3.3 Collective interests 73
3.4 Individual interests 83
3.5 Who paid the bill? 91
3.6 Summary 96
4 Poor Relief as a Survival Strategy 99
4.1 Registration 99
4.2 Recipients of benefits 103
4.3 Type and extent of relief 118
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viii Contents
4.4 Fraud and its prevention 133
4.5 Summary 142
5 The Role of Poor Relief in Society 144
5.1 Alternative control strategies 144
5.2 Alternative survival strategies 162
5.3 Interdependence 176
5.4 Summary 182
6 Concluding Remarks 185
6.1 Which groups provided poor relief and why? 185
6.2 Which groups received poor relief and why? 188
6.3 What were the effects of poor relief on society? 189
6.4 How useful was the simple model of poor relief in
preindustrial Europe? 190
Appendix A: The Anatomy of Charitable Power 192
Appendix B: A Short Survey of European Charity: Recipients
and the Value of their Relief 196
Notes 201
Archives Consulted 221
References 222
Index 235
List of Tables
2.1 Number of paupers based on one-off donations in
1794–1853 42
2.2 Distribution of heads of households by income in 1855 43
3.1 Interlocking directorates of charity administrators
during the first half of the nineteenth century 55
3.2 Social status of charity administrators during the first
half of the nineteenth century 57
3.3 Occupation of charity administrators in 1851 59
3.4 Incomes of charity administrators in 1854 60
3.5 Occupation of Reformed deacons, 1821–54 61
3.6 Waiting time for Reformed deacons by occupation,
1826–54 62
3.7 Age on taking office as charity administrator, 1840–54 65
3.8 Term of office as charity administrator during the first
half of the nineteenth century 65
3.9 Service as a charity administrator as a stepping stone to
political office during the first half of the nineteenth
century 85
3.10 Income and expenditure of the five leading poor-relief
institutions, 1829–54 92
4.1 Number of indoor- and outdoor-relief recipients by type
of institution, 1829–54 103
4.2 Number of paupers on outdoor relief per charity, 1829–54 104
4.3 Adults receiving poor relief from the Ashkenazi Charity
in 1809 107
4.4 Newly registered adults granted poor relief by the
Municipal Charity (1808–54) and by the Lutheran
Charity (1829–54) 108
4.5 Port-related work by men on relief and by the total male
labour force 110
4.6 Most common occupations of adults drawing relief from
the Ashkenazi Charity in 1809 111
4.7 Most common occupations of newly enrolled adults
drawing relief from the Municipal Charity (1830–54)
and from the Lutheran Charity (1837–54) 112
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