Because workers' slightlymaimed bodies proved advantageous in the job market, charity reformers and thepublic alike assumed that people with physical disabilities (even those with moresevere disabilities than missing fingers) should be able to find work.1
This once again shows the nuance with which the topic of disabilities in the late-nineteenth century should be regarded.
The phrase "of course" is significant here. While thegrotesque language used to describe people with disabilities in Chicago's ugly lawimplies that disabled people had such a low status in the city that they ceased tobe human and instead were nothing more than "unsightly or disgusting objects,"the actual status of disabled people in this period was far more complex. DisabledCivil War veterans and disabled workers, for example, both commanded ameasure of respect and were an accepted part of the public realm. Freakshow performances were both legal and popular. Rather than conflating all dis-abled people, I believe lawmakers took for granted that enforcers understood thecategorizations of disability well enough that they would only use the ugly law asan anti- vagrancy measure. In 1881 itwas understood that the ugly law was notintended as a blanket indictment of all physically disabled people but would onlyeffect those disabled people who were unable to support themselves through theirwages or pensions.1
ANOTHER IMPORTANT NOTE. Helpful for understanding the nuance behind it. Also article is insightful regarding the origins of legislation around street vagrancy.
temporary misfortunes into permanent poverty, for itis difficult for one who has once been forced to seek admission to an alms-houseto ever fully regain his self respect.
IMPORTANT TO NOTE. Helps me understand the implications of disabled individuals being forced to live in poorhouse's
Chicago's ugly law was aproduct of this system of revision without deliberation.
I believe this is an important distinction to make when understanding the social climate around disabled individuals.
It was passed in 1867,significantly earlier than the 1880s and 1890s, when unsightly beggar or-dinances were in vogue
This is the exact time-period that I need information for, as it is when the protagonist becomes disabled and the events of the manga start taking place.
Doctors blamed overcrowding on the rapid development of cities, machinery, and industry. Many physicians of that time believed that industrialization created pressure and stress on individuals.
Other sources mention industrialization as a factor as well
The Ugly Laws: Disability in Public
Found through WIKI : COME BACK TO THIS !!!!!!!!!!111
Portland, Oregon enacted an ugly law.
Good to note for the timeline of the protagonist's childhood. He would've been 10 years old at the time, so this occurred before his physical disability. Look into this further.
An ugly law was enacted for the state of Pennsylvania in 1891. This law contained language applying to cognitive disability as well as physical disability
COME BACK TO THIS. Directly relates.
In the 1860s, many surgical procedures or antibiotics were not yet available, so amputations were often the only option.
Amputations as common in the context of war.
His story was widely read and affirmed what people had been led to believe and wanted to believe: a group of people in our midst who will ruin the genetic strain if allowed to do so.
big emphasis on eugenics, come back to this idea.
Anyone who looked or acted differently was feared
consistent with the immigration and attitudes towards it presented in the manga.
Throughout the United States, great changes were occurring as the rural landscape was being replaced with the industrial city.
industrialization as a consistent marker for this transition in societal perception