Who Was “Fit” to Work? Disability and Labor from the 1600s to the Civil War

Employment has always been tied to how society defines value, productivity, and worth, and people with disabilities have often been left out of that definition. In this six-part blog series, we explore the history of disability and employment in the United States, from the earliest labor systems to the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act and beyond. Each post examines how attitudes toward work, ability, and merit shaped who was included and who was excluded, and why those patterns persist today. This series connects directly to the themes in The Talent You’re Missing, which examines how merit-based hiring can help employers move beyond outdated assumptions and recognize the talent that has always been there.

Where We Are in the Series

In this post, we begin at the foundation. We look at how early labor systems in the 1600s and 1700s shaped ideas about disability, work, and responsibility.

Long before factories and formal jobs, colonial communities established rules about who was expected to work, who could receive help, and who was considered “fit” to participate in economic life.

Work as a Moral Duty

In early American society, work was more than a way to earn a living. It was seen as a moral duty. Colonial communities believed that everyone who could work should work. This idea originated in the English Poor Laws, which shaped early American thinking.

The main questions were (1) who could work? (2) who could not? And (3) who deserved help. People who could not work because of illness, injury, age, or disability were often called “impotent,” meaning unable to labor. People who could work but did not were viewed with suspicion. Human worth was closely tied to labor. Productivity became a measure of character, not just ability.

Community Responsibility and Control

Responsibility for people who could not work usually fell to local towns, since there were no state or federal programs. Town leaders decided who belonged, who could receive help, and who could be sent away.

This support came with limits and rules. Communities divided people into groups: the “able,” who were expected to work, and the “impotent,” who might receive care. Help was not guaranteed, and it was temporary and closely monitored. Disability was not treated as a social issue but as a local problem to be managed.

Care Through Work

When people with disabilities received help, it was often connected to labor. Towns placed people in household service, apprenticeships, or other forms of assigned work whenever possible. Even children and people with physical or cognitive disabilities were expected to contribute in some way.

Care was often provided through required work. This reinforced a powerful idea: support was only justified when paired with productivity. Disability did not remove the expectation to work. It only changed the kind of work people were given.

Slavery and the Meaning of “Fitness”

At the same time, slavery created a stark labor system that shaped ideas about work and human value. Enslaved people were forced into exhausting labor and exposed to violence, disease, and neglect. These conditions often caused injury and long-term disability.

Within slavery, “fitness” was defined almost entirely by the ability to work. Enslaved people were bought, sold, punished, or discarded based on their labor capacity. When disability limited productivity, individuals were often labeled “unprofitable” or “useless.” This system sent a clear message: human worth was measured by output, and bodies existed to be controlled for labor.

Why This Era Still Matters

These early systems laid the groundwork for ideas that continue to shape employment today. They taught society to divide people into “able” and “unable,” to connect dignity to productivity, and to see disability as an economic problem, not a social responsibility.

The belief that human value is measured by work did not begin with modern jobs or factories. It was built into the foundations of American labor long before disability rights, accommodations, or civil protections existed.

Want to Learn More About Disability and Employment?

The Talent You’re Missing explores these themes in greater detail and demonstrates how merit-based hiring helps employers move beyond outdated assumptions and recognize talent with disabilities. At Disability Insights, we help organizations apply these ideas in practical, real-world workplace settings.