After the Revolutionary War, the federal government awarded bounty lands to citizens and soldiers for services rendered. In its simplest form, this involved the exchange of free land for military service.

But the federal government was not alone in rewarding its citizens and soldiers with bounty lands. Nine state governments adopted similar policies, generating even more records. Unlike the federal bounty land records, however, these state records are not centralized; instead, they are found in the various states in the form of manuscript records and printed books.

The nine states that awarded bounty lands in their western reserves or on their western borders (directly affecting the future states of Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Ohio, and Tennessee) are Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia. (The basis for the Connecticut and Georgia awards, by the way, differ from the norm.)

Revolutionary War veterans from Virginia, and their heirs and assignees, were eligible for Virginia bounty land warrants. The warrants were originally issued for land located in the present state of KY, but when Virginia agreed to cede its western lands to the United States, Congress approved an act in 1794 (1 Stat. 394) enabling holders of Virginia warrants to enter land in Ohio. This Ohio area, located between the Scioto and Little Miami Rivers, became known as the Virginia Military District of Ohio. Unused warrants could be exchanged for script in 1830 or later.

In May 1779 the Virginia General Assembly authorized the payment of half pay for life to the state's naval officers and militia officers who would serve for the rest of the war in state units within the state's borders or in the Continental Army. After the cessation of hostilities, Virginia was unable to satisfy all claims brought and sought to have the U. S. Government assume the obligation, stating that the cession to the United States of large tracts of Virginia land northwest of the Ohio River had reduced the state's expected revenues.

A federal act of 1832 directed the Secretary of the Treasury to reimburse the state of Virginia for half pay pension payment made to officers of the Virginia State Navy and certain designated units of the Virginia Line. The secretary was further to assume any additional pension payments due
officers in these units.

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