Both congenital disability and acquired disability was a part of life in Revolutionary-era Virginia, affecting people across class, age, and race. The Revolutionary War (1775–1783) increased the incidence of disability in Virginia as soldiers were injured in battle and as both fighting men and civilians suffered from the effects of disease and the hardships of war. The widespread nature of war-related disabilities placed strains on families and communities that cared for disabled persons and led to the creation of a government-backed system of compensation for disabled veterans. Virginia created a pension system that was more generous than the federal system, awarding disabled veterans full pay after discharge, but Black, Indigenous, and less-skilled veterans often had difficulty accessing benefits. After the war, political leaders and citizens debated which kinds of people should be entrusted with national leadership and participation, and often concluded that those with physical and intellectual disabilities should be excluded from rights such as voting, marriage, and property ownership. The expansion of slavery following the Revolution also intensified the disabilities of enslaved people, who became debilitated from forced labor, punishment, and adverse living conditions. The period after the war also saw the rise of asylums, such as the Public Hospital for Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds in Williamsburg, for the commitment of people with perceived intellectual and psychiatric disabilities. At the same time, responsibility for poor people, including those who could not work due to disability, was transferred from parishes to county overseers of the poor, marking the beginnings of state-run social welfare provisions for some disabled persons.
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