US Disability: 1776-1891

Key Events regarding Disability in the US: 1776 to 1891

1776: During the Revolutionary War, Servicemen who suffered significant injuries or were unable to provide for their Household were financially supported by the First Pension Law enacted by the Continental Congress on August 26, 1776. Half Pay for Life or during Disability was extended to every American Officer, Soldier and Sailor losing a limb while in service or becoming Disabled in Service. Congress couldn’t raise money so were dependent on each State to execute the Law.

1817:  The American School for the Deaf was founded in Hartford, Connecticut. This was the first School for Children with Disabilities anywhere in the Western Hemisphere.

1840s:  The M'Naghten Rule is any variant of the 1840s Jury Instruction in a Criminal Case when there is a Defense of Insanity.

1851: Illinois opened its first Hospital for the Mentally Ill.

1853: Illinois required a Public Hearing before a Person could be committed against their will. The only Exception was a Husband could have his Wife committed without either a Public Hearing or her Consent.

1864: During the American Civil War, the US Congress authorized the Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind to confer College Degrees, and President Abraham Lincoln signed the bill into law. It was the first College in the World established for People with Disabilities and is now known as Gallaudet University.

1867: The First Ugly Laws were created across the US in San Francisco, California. These Laws deemed it Illegal for "any person, who is diseased, maimed, mutilated or deformed in any way, so as to be an unsightly or disgusting object, to expose himself to public view." Those charged under the Ugly Laws were forcibly sent to Work Farms or Poor Houses.

1867:  Illinois passed a "Bill for the Protection of Personal Liberty" which guaranteed all People accused of Insanity, including Wives, had the right to a Public Hearing.

1869: State v. Pike, 49 N.h. 399 (1869), is a Criminal Case which articulated a Product tTest for an Insanity Defense. The court in Durham v. United States used it as the basis for what came to be known as the Durham Rule.

1880:  The National Association of the Deaf was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio; a Non-Profit for Deaf rights now Headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland.

1881: Portland, Oregon enacted an Ugly Law.

1881: Chicago, Illinois enacted an Ugly Law.

1887 – The graphic depiction of conditions at the Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island in Nellie Bly's book Ten Days in a Mad-House caused a sensation, which brought Bly lasting fame and prompted a Grand Jury to launch its own investigation, with Bly assisting. The Jury's report resulted in an $850,000 increase in the budget of the Department of Public Charities and Corrections. The Grand Jury also made sure that future examinations were more thorough so that only the seriously ill went to the Asylum.

1889: Ugly Laws were enacted in Denver, Colorado.

1889: Ugly Laws enacted in Lincoln, Nebraska.

1894: Ugly Laws was enacted in Columbus, Ohio.

1891: An Ugly Law was enacted for the State of Pennsylvania. This Law contained language applying to Cognitive Disability as well as Physical Disability.