This dissertation explains the transformation of Spanish and Spanish American assistance between 1750 and 1810. Charitable assistance, based on the sacred duty of every Christian to directly assist their needy co-religious as an intimate act of love toward God, began to dissolve in this period. In its place emerged an understanding of poverty and assistance that was both social and public. On both sides of the Atlantic, individuals and institutions sought to establish a novel form of assistance in their communities. Importantly, this general transformation to public assistance did not result in a single process of change over time. Depending on the socio-economic context, political necessities, or even personality conflicts, individuals in each of the major urban centers confronted the question of reforming assistance in their own way. This dissertation examines three particular cases: Madrid, Buenos Aires, and Lima. Beginning in Madrid, an expansive hospicio-system emerged in the aftermath of considerable urban unrest. The creation of the Real Hospicio de San Fernando, in conjunction with the reconstituted Real Hospicio de Madrid, allowed the Crown to impose order through the confinement of adult men and women. Buenos Aires, in contrast, located its transformation in the administrative body of the Hermandad de la Santa Caridad. Through this association, the city's leading men sought to reform and instruct women and children. Finally, Lima did not witness a transformation of charitable assistance. The inability of royal officials and the self-proclaimed public to negotiate a change ultimately strengthened its traditional system of charity. Crucial to each outcome was the institutional capacity of the emerging Spanish state and civil society. The evidence and explanations given in this dissertation will contribute to both the historiography of assistance and Bourbon reforms, and social theory of state formation and the social question.