ABSTRACT
The colonial poor laws governed the provision of relief. Although settlement laws restricted and denied public aid to "undesirable" poor whites, the laws governing the colonial black population, known as "the slave codes", cost black women and men their freedom. Outdoor relief went primarily to deserving paupers whom officials preferred to aid "in so private a manner that it is seldom known to any neighbors". At a time when women were expected to confine their productive labor to the home, indoor relief effectively penalized undeserving female paupers for being out of role. In this process of "farming-out", female paupers, like men, exchanged their labor for support in another's home – often that of a relatively poor stranger who did not necessarily treat them well. The laws of marriage, inheritance, and paternity that structured the formation of families and the patriarchal family unit also reflected concerns about female dependency.
