New Yorker, Charles Loring Brace founded the Children's Aid Society in 1853. The CAS sought to remove children from troubled households, sending males to work on farms and females to prepare for a life of domesticity.
In New York City in the 1850’s, there were calls to reform the way of life adopted by the working class families, specifically the women and children of these families. “From reformers’ perspective, the active engagement of women and children in public wage work and social life rather than sheltered in a safe, moral home environment became itself evidence of parental neglect, family disintegration, and the root cause of poverty.” (Chudacoff p53) In 1853, the Children’s Aid Society was established by Charles Loring Brace to “remove children from troubled households, shipping boys off to farm labor in the countryside and teaching girls sewing, cooking, and housecleaning as preparation for a life of domesticity as wives or servants.” (Chudacoff p53) This institution, in fact, did not eradicate poverty from New York City streets, rather, it stewed hostility between the working class and the upper class. The upper class of urban areas were consistently trying to reform the immigrant and working class in order to eliminate poverty from the cities altogether. Their efforts led to tension between the classes that is still felt in heavily populated cities of the U.S. today.
Affected by the change are the working class and immigrant families. This was a bad change for these families because if their child had been earning an income, they would lose that income, impoverishing the family further. Not to mention the idea of losing a family member, to most likely never be seen again, must have been psychologically trying on these families, the mothers in particular. This change also affects the child who was sent away, but it’s hard to speculate whether the affect of this change was good or bad. It could be bad, if the child misses his/her family and experiences psychological trauma because of the separation or if the child ends up in a place essentially worse off from where they started. It could be a good change though, if the child ends up with more than he/she had in the first place. The idea of removing a child from an unfit parent is still practiced in the United States. However, instead of being sent off to learn a trade of practicality, the children placed into child services wait to be adopted by foster parents.
Diana brings up a good point on the role of women and children in the work place. During the revolutionary role, women were a strong resource to the success of the domesticated family life and the progression of their husbands businesses in times of need. With the reformation of working class families during the 1850’s, the restricting of family life messed up the setup of a familiar and functioning home. This goes to show that with positive change, come certain negative aspects.