the history of social services in the united states

HISTORY OF SOCIAL SERVICES IN THE UNITED STATES

Tracing back on the history of social services offered by the modernized and progressive America , one would be proud to say that the roots of volunteering and free services offered have a long American history . Way back in 1700s , the Americans have started to offer free services to their countrymen in many ways such as firefighting , food charities , building houses and public amenities for free , free educational services and much more . One can even be surprised to know that the Americans have undergone making

bandages , shirts and towels during the Civil War , all for free through the Ladies ' Aid Society (Trattner , W . 1974

The earliest recorded organized social service offered in America could have been the firefighting service which was founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1736 and the first fire department was established in Philadelphia (Collins , Donald 1982 . It is however important to note that there had been firefighting volunteer organizations as early as 1711 which was called The Mutual Fire Societies . The said organization was founded by the concerned citizens after Boston experienced a major fire in Boston which caused one hundred ten families to lose their homes (Ditzel , Paul C . 1976 . The Mutual Fire Societies became social as well as protective associations , setting a pattern for organized volunteer firefighting groups , which would one day be the backbone of firefighting in America and would dominate it for a century and a half (Smith , Dennis 1978

Franklin 's company called Union Fire Company had 30 volunteers of which Isaac Paschall was the first full-pledged volunteer . Because of frequent occurrence of fires in Boston and Philadelphia , the firefighting services gained popularity which lead to the need of increasing volunteer firefighters to 40 men per company . The need then gave birth to the companies of The Fellowship , Hand-in-Hand and Heart-in-Hand , and Friendship Companies . Accounts said that the members of these companies were wealthy merchants and professionals in the cities who were willing to offer their free services to the nation . In fact , famous Americans like George Washington , Thomas Jefferson , Benjamin Franklin , Samuel Adams , John Hancock , Paul Revere , Alexander Hamilton , John Jay , John Barry , Aaron Burr , Benedict Arnold , James Buchanan and Millard Fillmore served as volunteer firemen in their own companies (Smith , Dennis 1978 .British slavery could have been the first encouragement for the Americans to step up and volunteer themselves in the helping their fellowmen to fight the harsh effects of being enslaves . Through religious groups , the effects of Christianity in the history of America were made evident in the rise of volunteers during the time called The Great Awakening . Philanthropic organizations like YMCA were founded for this goal . YMCA 's first university-based hand was established at the University of Michigan in 1857 , although its foundation as a nationwide organization can be traced from 1844 . YMCA 's name and mission still remain alive in the American culture of volunteerism . Hand in hand with YMCA were the world 's largest orphanage system , Barnardo 's Homes...