What sort(s) of identification were used before driver's licenses were issued in the US?
Upvote:8
A key identifier (before personal IDs) was the character witness and guarantor -- someone who knew you and vouched for you. It could be done in person, or documented in an affidavit. Many documents, even today, include witnesses, attesting not only that a particular event took place (marriage, death, official acts like wills, etc), but that the parties were indeed who they said they were.
Upvote:9
The United States has traditionally been a free country, not requiring people to carry identifying documents. Even today, there are only some states that have stop and identify statutes requiring people to identify themselves when stopped on "suspicion" or for other non-criminal reasons. Even those states mostly require a person only give their name, not provide actual documentation.
Before recent times (about 1970) people in the United States were mostly known from employment records. When a person was employed a detailed investigation of their identity was generally done. This would involve questioning their "credentials" which might include letters of recommendation and a birth certificate, for example. When this was complete and satisfactory, an employee identification card was issued. Here is an example from 1906:
This card would be given to the employee and a copy would be kept by the company with their full record. For reputable companies often it would be required that a prospective employee provide multiple references from "known", responsible people essentially vouching for the person. Such documents were important to make sure that the right person was paid. Without them, a fraudster could show up on payday and try to collect someone else's paycheck.
More post
- 📝 What was the need to call the Estates-General of 1789?
- 📝 How did the First French Empire and allies differ from the other European monarchies at that time?
- 📝 Did a kamikaze ever impact the hull of a ship, as opposed to the deck?
- 📝 What did Germany gain from the Armistice of 11 November 1918?
- 📝 Did Serbian businessman Tadija Sondermayer serve in French Air Force Escadrille 3 during WW1?
- 📝 How was money transferred in early 1900s' Russia?
- 📝 Did anyone ever try to beat the Great Wall of China by digging secret tunnels under it?
- 📝 What went wrong with India's scientific development as a society?
- 📝 Is there a definition of history separate from the definition of politics?
- 📝 Why was the capital of Poland moved from Krakow to Warsaw in 1595?
- 📝 Was the year 2000 a really peaceful time in history for the West?
- 📝 What was Poland's posture during the Seven Years' War?
- 📝 Was Saint Patrick an abolitionist?
- 📝 Did some Roman/Pompeiian houses have atria for slaves?
- 📝 Why was the US so pro-China and so anti-Japan before WW2?
- 📝 What are some items still existing today that were involved in the most killings?
- 📝 Did Washington like or dislike the monarchical styles of address proposed by John Adams?
- 📝 Have the officials/leaders of the winning country ever been punished for war crimes?
- 📝 What measures were taken by the Bolsheviks to consolidate their position?
- 📝 Naming of (strategic) hills on a map as numbers (example Hill 60)
- 📝 Why did Virginia let Kentucky become a separate state?
- 📝 Why didn't Alexander invade India?
- 📝 What are the intellectual roots of the "French Republican identity" pursuit?
- 📝 Was there a period in history predating the 15th century where being bald was not looked upon negatively?
- 📝 How many men were lost on the USAT Arcata and was she loaded with troops when she was hit?
- 📝 Why was France given such a lenient peace after Napoleon was defeated?
- 📝 Has scurvy occurred on land outside the Russian Far East?
- 📝 When was the Ottoman mosque within the Parthenon demolished?
- 📝 Can anyone identify this sword guard?
- 📝 Why was the US unable to win in Korea?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What sort(s) of identification were used before driver's licenses were issued in the US?
- 📝 What coin denominations were used in the US before Dollars and Cents?
- 📝 What were paper airplanes called before there were real airplanes? (i.e. untethered winged flyers, not kites or balloons)
- 📝 What drugs were used in England during the High Middle Ages?
- 📝 What were sandbags used for in medieval duels?
- 📝 What kind of ink was used by medieval scribes in Iceland, given that there were no plant galls for iron-gall ink?
- 📝 What evidence is there of the vision aids people used before the invention of eyeglasses in about 1286?
- 📝 To what extent were Polynesians in contact with one-another before European contact?
- 📝 What were the indigenous populations of California before American settlement began to peak?
- 📝 What kind of evidence (if any) could be used to identify a large conquest in the time before writing?
- 📝 What weapons were manufactured in India by the British forces which were used during world wars?
- 📝 What exactly were currours, and what were they used for?
- 📝 During the Sengoku-jidai, what were shinobi (aka ninja) used for?
- 📝 What kind of siege weapons were used during Punic wars?
- 📝 Were B-17s (rather than B-29s) ever used to bomb mainland Japanese territory during WW2 (at least before the capture of Okinawa)?
- 📝 What specific changes were made to political ideologies around during and before World War I?
- 📝 What trains were used on the Dakar-Niger Railway in the late 1950s and early 1960s?
- 📝 What were the incentives for joining the Roman army before the Marian reforms?
- 📝 What were the typical types of ships used in the Persian Navy in the 1730's and 1740's?
- 📝 What sorts of people were popular celebrities in 17th to 19th century Europe?
- 📝 What containers were used for food prior to the industrial era?
- 📝 What were the relations between Romania and Bulgaria before WWI?
- 📝 Who were the Catholic popes before Francis I who used names not of Latin, Greek or Jewish origin?
- 📝 What type of ferry boats were used in England in the early 19th century?
- 📝 What were Egyptian rulers called before the honorific title "Pharaoh"?
- 📝 What calendars were used in Eastern Rome?
- 📝 What methods were used for onboard ship communication during WW2?
- 📝 To What Extent Were St. Augustine's Just War Principles Used In The First Crusade?
- 📝 What were the most used drugs in battles and wars?
- 📝 What kind of canoes were used in 19th century Yucatán?
