Overseers of the Poor: Relief, Surveillance, and Control in the Early Republic Northeast.

The article discusses the Overseers of the Poor group of local-level officials who were responsibly for implementing state laws regarding poverty and citizenship in the early republic era in America's Northeast region, and it mentions violations of poor laws, surveillance, and control. The powers of local government officials are assessed, as well as events in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, New York, New York, and Providence, Rhode Island.