Disabled Revolutionary War Veterans and the Construction of Disability in the Early United States, c. 1776-1840

This thesis addresses the following broad research question: what did it mean to be a disabled Revolutionary War veteran in the early United States during the period from 1776 to roughly 1840? The study approaches the question from two angles: a state-centred one and an experiential one. In both cases, the theoretical framework employed comes from disability studies. Consequently, disability is regarded as a sociocultural phenomenon rather than a medical condition. The state-centred dimension of the study explores the meaning of disability and disabled veterans to the early American state through an examination of the major military pension laws of the period. An analysis of this legislation, particularly the invalid pension acts of 1793 and 1806, indicates that the early United States represents a key period in the development of the modern disability category. The experiential approach, in contrast, shifts the focus of attention away from the state towards the lived experiences of disabled veterans. It seeks to address the issue of whether or not the disabilities of disabled veterans had any significant material impact on their everyday lives. It does this through a comparison of the situation of 153 disabled veterans with that of an equivalent number of nondisabled veterans. The former group received invalid pensions while the latter did not. In comparing the material conditions of disabled and nondisabled veterans, a wide range of primary sources from military records to memoirs and letters are used. The most important sources in this regard are the pension application papers submitted by veterans in the early nineteenth century. These provide us with a unique insight into the everyday lives of veterans. Looking at the issue of experience through the window of the pension files reveals that there was not much difference in the broad contours of disabled and nondisabled veteran life. This finding has implications for the theorisation of disability that are highlighted and discussed in the thesis. The main themes covered in this study are: the wartime experiences of injured American soldiers, the military pension establishment of the early United States and the legal construction of disability, and the post-war working and family lives of disabled veterans. Keywords: disability, early America, veterans, military pensions, disabled people, Revolutionary War, United States, disability theory.

Boston, Massachusetts and vicinity, showing Revolutionary War fortification sites, 1788 (Raster Image)

This layer is a georeferenced raster image of the historic paper map entitled: Boston with its environs, [by] T. Conder, sculpt. The map was originally published in: William Gordon's The history of the rise, progress, and establishment, of the independence of the United States of America, 1788. Scale [ca. 1:53,360]. The image inside the map neatline is georeferenced to the surface of the earth and fit to the Massachusetts State Plane Coordinate System, Mainland Zone (in Feet) (Fipszone 2001). All map collar and inset information is also available as part of the raster image, including any inset maps, profiles, statistical tables, directories, text, illustrations, or other information associated with the principal map. This map shows Revolutionary War features such as positions of troops, redoubts, batteries, and forts, etc. It also shows features such as roads, drainage, selected public buildings and residences, and more. Relief is shown by hachures. This layer is part of a selection of digitally scanned and georeferenced historic maps of Massachusetts from the Harvard Map Collection. These maps typically portray both natural and manmade features. The selection represents a range of regions, originators, ground condition dates (1755-1922), scales, and purposes. The digitized selection includes maps of: the state, Massachusetts counties, town surveys, coastal features, real property, parks, cemeteries, railroads, roads, public works projects, etc.

Poland and the American revolutionary war,

"A translated, revised and enlarged edition of [the author's] Polacy w walce o niepodleglość Ameryki."--Prefatory note.

The narrative of James Roberts, soldier in the revolutionary war and at the battle of New Orleans.

"One hundred and thirty-six copies reprinted from the apparently unique copy in the Charles E. Heartman collection of material relating to Negro culture."

Black list : A list of those Tories who took part with Great-Britain, in the Revolutionary War, and were attainted of high treason, commonly called the black list ; to which is prefixed the legal opinions of Attorney Generals McKean & Dallas, &c.

A list of Pennsylvania Tories.

The present state of Colombia; containing an account of the principal events of its revolutionary war; the expeditions fitted out in England to assist in its emancipation; its constitution; financial and commercial laws; revenue, expenditure and public debt; agriculture; mines; mining and other associations ...

Map wanting.

A monograph on the Rev. Israel Evans, A.M., chaplain in the American army during the entire revolutionary war, 1775-1783, the second settled minister of Concord, New Hampshire 1789-1797,

Mode of access: Internet.

A monograph of the Rev. Israel Evans, A.M., chaplain in the American army during the entire Revolutionary War, 1775-1783 : the second settled minister of Concord, New Hampshire, 1789-1797 : delivered at the sixtieth annual meeting of the Concord Congregational Union, held with the church at Penacook, N.H., Thursday, October 30, 1902 /

Reprinted from the Granite monthly, Nov. 1902, v. 23, no. 5.

Exiles in Virginia: with observations on the conduct of the Society of Friends during the revolutionary war, comprising the official papers of the government relating to that period. 1777-1778.

"An address to the inhabitants of Pennsylvania, by those freemen of the city of Philadelphia, who are now confined in the Mason's lodge ...": p. 86-115.

Evils of the revolutionary war.

Mode of access: Internet.

The life of Gen. Francis Marion, a celebrated partisan officer in the Revolutionary War, against the British and Tories in South Carolina and Georgia /

First published in 1809.

Life and character of the Chevalier John Paul Jones, a captain in the navy of the United States, during their revolutionary war ...

Another edition published same year, includes register of the navy of the U.S. for 1825, p. [365]-387.

The monument of patriotism, being a collection of biographical sketches ... of some of those men who signed the independence of America; and brief sketches of many other eminent statesmen, also, generals and heroes who fought and bled in the revolutionary war, and also, the most prominent characters of the late war with Great Britain. To which is annexed the Declaration of independence in 1776, and George Washington's farewell address. An eulogium on the character of General George Washington.

Mode of access: Internet.

A military journal during the American revolutionary war, from 1775 to 1783; describing interesting events and transactions from this period; with numerous historical facts and anecdotes, from the original manuscript. To which is added an appendix, containing biographical sketches of several general officers.

Mode of access: Internet.

Sketches of the naval history of the United States; from the commencement of the revolutionary war, to the present time ... likewise an appendix, wherein the chief part of the important documents concerning the navy are collected.

Microfilm. Ann Arbor, Mich., University Microfilms [n.d.] (American culture series, Reel 117.2)