Although the founders of the United States didn’t exactly represent a clean break with the past, they did bring several new aspects to the economy. One was the role of individual philanthropy, which is unique in this country.
Historical perspective
For much of human history, religious organizations or feudal lords handled charitable works. Most of the world’s religions have requirements for giving to the less fortunate or sharing with members of the community through alms, sacrificial feasts, or mandated contributions. Over millennia, this became institutionalized, but the basis remains in ancient texts and teachings.
Meanwhile, the feudal system took hold in various forms all over the world. Some wealthy people controlled land or other factors of production, and they then had the responsibility to provide protection and subsistence to the people under their charge. Some did better with this than others, of course. At one extreme, the fictional Lord Grantham of Downton Abbey spent much of his time worrying about how best to look after his tenants. At the other extreme, you had such horrible abuses as slavery and starvation.
Both feudal and religious systems led to much hoarding of wealth rather than distribution to the truly needy, and pretty much everyone but the aristocracy and clergy objected. This is the history of England in a nutshell.
A new nation, a new approach
The United States was, of course, founded in opposition to the English system. Sure, it was founded by white men who had strong ties to England, many of whom were not comfortable with democracy and would have been happy if their parliamentary representation had come with a title and a seat at the House of Lords. They may have been willing to accept an extension of a feudal system that included them, but they didn’t get it. When George Washington refused the title of king, the deal was sealed.
And, of course, many of those who came to the US from England were interested in religious liberty. Catholics, Puritans, and Quakers were among those who were happy to be free of the Church of England. The new nation was not the have an established religion. It was to be something different.
Although feudalism was abolished and religious freedom declared, poor and troubled people didn’t disappear. We really didn’t have an explicit, government-sanctioned way to care for the poor. The issue came to a head until the second industrial revolution, when vast fortunes were being created at the same as socialism was becoming popular in many sectors in Europe. Here was the situation: people didn’t want feudal lords to take care of people; the First Amendment limited the involvement of churches; the wealthy didn’t want to pay high taxes; and no one in power or close to it was interested in the violent overthrow of the bourgeoisie by the proletariat. And into that void came the emergence of serious private philanthropy.
It is uniquely American. That’s one reason I’m studying it.
