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Social Studies 5: Cough it Up: How America (Didn't Really) Pay Its Revolutionary War Soldiers 19 Views


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Description:

Turns out that if you fought to liberate the United States back in the day you may have been paid $96 a year for your troubles. And that's just if you were lucky. Yikes. But yay liberty?

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:04

[Coop and Dino singing]

00:13

America has a checkered history when it comes to taking care of its war veterans. [Veterans wearing checkered suits]

00:18

And no, that doesn't mean we have a history of playing checkers with them.

00:21

Though that would be fun…

00:23

After World War II, the GI Bill helped returning soldiers go off to college… [Man graduating from college]

00:27

… where they got an education that allowed them to find good jobs.

00:31

After Vietnam however, soldiers were scorned and criticized for fighting in an unpopular war.

00:38

And many Vietnam vets had trouble re-adjusting to society.

00:42

But surely America’s first veterans – soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War for our [Soldiers fighting in Revolutionary War]

00:47

nation’s independence – were treated with the respect and gratitude they deserved, right?

00:51

…Um, turns out, not so much. [Men in costume on stage with no audience]

00:54

See, even though England had lost, it was a country with a strong central government

00:59

and colonies, as well as a known and trusted currency.

01:01

This allowed Great Britain to trade and collect taxes and pay off the debts it had incurred [King George holding a bag of money]

01:06

in the war.

01:08

The new U.S., on the other hand, had, well, none of that.

01:13

And when Revolutionary War veterans – including soldiers, officers, and the women who had [Officers and veterans walk up to army payment desk]

01:19

followed the army as cooks, seamstresses, and nurses – came a-knocking to collect

01:23

the pay they’d been promised, Congress suddenly got a serious case of alligator arms. [Man's arms transform into alligators and closes army payment desk]

01:28

How’s that for a “thank you for your service”?

01:31

With no money to give, Congress offered some veterans land in place of pay.

01:35

But it rarely worked in the veteran’s favor. [Veteran holding a land deed]

01:38

Even the ones who did actually get some land often had to sell it to predatory speculators

01:42

in order to pay off their debts, or to just get some spending cash.

01:46

The Federal Pension Act of 1818 promised to give war veterans a pension of $96 a year.

01:52

But the Act didn’t provide payments to women or African Americans who had served in the army. [Women and African American appear at payment desk and man disappears]

01:57

Everyone who's surprised by that fact, raise your hands!

02:00

…Oh look, no hands.

02:02

And even soldiers who did receive this pension felt that they’d done more for their country [Soldier empties pension bag]

02:06

than their country was doing for them.

02:08

Like this guy.

02:10

This guy is Joseph Plumb Martin.

02:12

He served seven years in the Continental Army.

02:14

In 1830 he published a memoir titled, “A Narrative of [Joseph Martin picks up his book]

02:17

a Revolutionary Soldier."

02:19

Try saying that five times fast…or just five times without needing a nap in between…

02:24

In it, Martin took the government to task for failing to take care of its veterans. [Joseph selling his narrative book]

02:28

Unfortunately, the book didn’t sell in his lifetime.

02:31

Though it did do well when it was eventually republished.

02:33

We’re sure that shortening the title to “Private Yankee Doodle” didn’t have

02:37

anything to do with that…

02:39

Anyway, the nation heeded Martin’s words and today’s veterans face none of the problems

02:43

Martin and his fellow soldiers did 200 years ago. [Joseph looks at newspaper article of iraq/afghanistan war veterans]

02:47

Oh…

02:48

Right.

02:49

Never mind.

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