nsion to be financed by the individual states, “A commission, appointed by the Continental Congress, recommended in 1776 half-pay for life, or during disability, to ever officer, soldier, or sailor losing a limb in battle. Those partially disabled were to be given proportionate relief. The states were to finance the disability pension plan,” (Levitan, et.al., 1973:
The different forces in the North and South, where the ratification of the Constitution was concerned, disagreed over the pension debts incurred. In addition, there were those who felt it amounted to some type of favoritism to give veterans special benefits. In addition, the Continental Congress did not have much power over the various states and did not have the necessary funds to carry out its offer to soldiers. Many of the soldier’s claims also fell into the hands of speculators. The resolution of these types of contentions actually resulted in the location of the capitol of the new government:
A compromise worked out by Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton resolved the issue, the capitol of the new constitutional government was to be located in the South between Virginia and Maryland instead of in a northern city, in exchange for southern support of national debt assumption, including pensions. Following the agreement, the federal Congress took over payment of pensions from the states and the veterans’ programs have been an integral part of the federal budget since the birth of the nation. The federal Congress became the guardian of the disabled veteran, his widow, and his orphan-a right which it has jealously guarded ever since.
The War of 1812 brought a kind of national attention to the survivors who were unable to care for themselves because of disabilities or poverty caused from them. By 1819, President Monroe had adopted a firm policy of believing that surviving veterans, especially those disabled, should have some recompense and prov...