Southern Campaigns: Pension Transactions

rdf:langString Southern Campaigns: Pension Transactions

rdf:langString Southern Campaigns: Pension Transactions refer to the years after the Revolutionary War, when there are thought to have existed around 80,000 pension applications from soldiers who fought in the Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution. The United States Government spent countless years implementing and amending pension laws for Continental soldiers. The first pension legislation passed in August 1776 while the last one passed in 1878. Most rejected pensions were due to a lack of service, however, in some cases soldiers were rejected due to their skin color. Native Americans who served, for example, were not rewarded properly for their service. In a recent project, historians and , started to transcribe the pensions of the Southern Campaigns. This long and gruesome process was started in 2006 and continues today. When investigating these pensions, there is no question that some of them reveal fraud in the pension system. Nevertheless, the pension applications provide historians unique access into soldier rosters and battles during the Revolutionary War.