| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 88.2

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| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 88.2 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Suffering Soldiers: Revolutionary War Veterans, Moral Sentiment, and Political Culture in the Early Republic. By John Resch. (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1999. xvi, 319 pp. $40.00, ISBN 1-55849-232-1.)

In 1818 the United States government extended pension benefits enjoyed by disabled Continental Army veterans to all veterans in "reduced circumstances." The change generated more than 40,000 applications by the close of 1819, putting pressure on the federal budget even after 11,500 were rejected out of hand. Despite this "scandal," Congress persisted with the program in 1820, only requiring a means test to establish "reduced circumstances." Given the general hostility to pensions during and after the Revolution, John Resch hails Congress's actions in 1818 and 1820 as marking a significant change in the nation's political culture. He attributes it to the emergence of "the image of the suffering soldier" after the War of 1812. . . .

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