The early 1800s was an era where poor, orphaned, and abused children were left on streets, thrown in prison, or simply put away in orphanages. Finally, in 1851, a man by the name of Charles Brace finally decided to recognize this serious problem. At the time the popular Puritan belief was that "children are damned and saved through discipline" (Eviatar). But Charles Brace had the conception that children were "innocents in need of protection" (Eviatar). And Brace was the first to act upon his belief that all children deserve a family if possible by founding the Children's Aid Society, a starting block for the foster care system of today (Eviatar).
However, while Brace was undoubtedly revolutionary in his thinking about child welfare, his motives may not have been entirely unselfish. While he did want to help poor children, his objectives also included ridding the upper class of the dangerous and disturbing unparented children, referred to as the "poison society" (Eviatar), running around the streets. Not to mention he figured taking a lead on such an issue would surely help his social standing (Eviatar).
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