What was the Bonus Army and what did they do?
The Bonus Army was a group of 43,000 demonstrators – made up of 17,000 veterans of the United States in World War I, together with their families and affiliated groups – who gathered in Washington, D.C. in mid-1932 to demand early cash redemption of their service bonus certificates.
What was the Bonus Army March of 1932?
The demonstration that drew the most national attention was the Bonus Army march of 1932. In 1924, Congress rewarded veterans of World War I with certificates redeemable in 1945 for $1,000 each. By 1932, many of these former servicemen had lost their jobs and fortunes in the early days of the Depression.
Who brought the Bonus Army to Washington DC?
Led by Walter Waters of Oregon, the so-called Bonus Expeditionary Force set out for the nation's capital. Hitching rides, hopping trains, and hiking finally brought the Bonus Army, now 15,000 strong, into the capital in June 1932.
How did the Bonus Army affect the election of Hoover?
Despite the fact that the Bonus Army was the largest march on Washington up to that point in history, Hoover and MacArthur clearly overestimated the threat posed to national security. As Hoover campaigned for reelection that summer, his actions turned an already sour public opinion of him even further bottomward.
Why was the Bonus Army significant quizlet?
SIGNIFICANCE: the Bonus Army incident underlines the hysteria and panic the Great Depression brought upon the American people, and the determination of the government to stay in control.
What was the Bonus Army what happened to them quizlet?
What happened to the Bonus Army? The Bonus Army was voted down in Congress, Hoover told the veterans to leave as Thousands of veterans and their families came to Washington and set up tents near the capitol building. About 2,000 stayed. Hoover ordered the army to remove them.
What was the Bonus Army and what were its demands quizlet?
What was the Bonus Army? WWI veterans who marched in DC to demand early payment of the bonus money promised them for their military service. What did the Bonus Army demand, did they get what they wanted? Out of work, the bonus army sought early payment, but was removed from D.C. by the army.
What was the purpose for the Bonus Army's march on Washington, D.C. in 1932 quizlet?
The Bonus Army were the 43,000 marchers—17,000 U.S. World War I veterans, their families, and affiliated groups—who gathered in Washington, D.C. in the summer of 1932 to demand cash-payment redemption of their service certificates.
What is the Bonus Army and why is it significant?
Bonus Army, gathering of probably 10,000 to 25,000 World War I veterans (estimates vary widely) who, with their wives and children, converged on Washington, D.C., in 1932, demanding immediate bonus payment for wartime services to alleviate the economic hardship of the Great Depression.
What was the purpose of the Bonus Army?
In May 1932, jobless WWI veterans organized a group called the “Bonus Expeditionary Forces” (BEF) to march on Washington, DC. Suffering and desperate, the BEF's goal was to get the bonus payment now, when they really needed the money.
What was the result of the Bonus Army?
Over 6,000 bonus marchers massed at the U.S. Capitol on June 17 as the U.S. Senate voted on the Bonus Bill. The bill was defeated by a vote of 62–18.
What happened with the Bonus Army?
Fearing rising disorder, Hoover ordered an army regiment into the city, under the leadership of General Douglas MacArthur. The army, complete with infantry, cavalry, and tanks, rolled into Anacostia Flats forcing the Bonus Army to flee. MacArthur then ordered the shanty settlements burned. Many Americans were outraged.
How did the government react to the Bonus Army?
In the coming weeks, he was to prove more sympathetic to the men than the other authorities, and they appreciated it. He asked Congress for $75,000 to feed the marchers, a request that was turned down. Two weeks later the US House of Representatives did in fact vote to provide the bonus, but the US Senate rejected it.
What was the result of the Bonus March quizlet?
Two babies died of tear gas, and many people including children were injured. The Marchers were forced out. The actions of the army made Herbert Hoover even more unpopular.
What event happened when the Bonus Army marched in protest on Washington quizlet?
He allowed federal troops to remove the Bonus Army with great force. What event happened when the veteran groups marched in protest in Washington? Federal troops used tear-gas and marched with they bayonets on the protestors, many veterans were injured.
When did the Bonus Army arrive in the US?
In an effort to force early lump-sum payment of these urgently needed benefits, the Bonus Army, sometimes called the “Bonus Expeditionary Force,” converged on the nation’s capital in the spring of 1932; they moved into abandoned shacks below the Capitol and set up shanties and tents along the Anacostia River.
Who drove out the protesters?
Pres. Herbert Hoover intervene. Troops led by Brig. Gen. Perry L. Miles and accompanied by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the U.S. Army chief of staff, drove out the demonstrators and destroyed their encampments, using tanks and tear gas.
Did the Civilian Conservation Corps create a bonus?
Although again no bonus legislation was passed, Congress did create the Civilian Conservation Corps, in which many of the veterans were able to find work. In 1936, however, Congress finally passed, over a presidential veto, a bill to disburse about $2 billion in veterans’ benefits.
What was the main demand of the Bonus Army?
The principal demand of the Bonus Army was the immediate cash payment of their certificates. On July 28, 1932, U.S. Attorney General William D. Mitchell ordered the veterans removed from all government property. Washington police met with resistance, shot at the protestors, and two veterans were wounded and later died.
When did the military start giving bonuses?
The practice of war-time military bonuses began in 1776, as payment for the difference between what a soldier earned and what he could have earned had he not enlisted. The practice derived from English legislation passed in the 1592–93 session of Parliament to provide medical care and maintenance for disabled veterans and bonuses for serving soldiers. Similar legislation for disabled veterans later only progressively passed by the North American colonies, beginning with Virginia in 1624.
What did the bonus marchers yell at the troops?
The Bonus Marchers, believing the troops were marching in their honor, cheered the troops until Patton ordered the cavalry to charge them, which prompted the spectators to yell, "Shame! Shame!". Shacks that members of the Bonus Army erected on the Anacostia Flats burning after its confrontation with the army.
What was the second bonus March?
A second, smaller Bonus March in 1933 at the start of the Roosevelt administration was defused in May with an offer of jobs with the Civilian Conservation Corps at Fort Hunt, Virginia, which most of the group accepted. Those who chose not to work for the CCC by the May 22 deadline were given transportation home.
How many people were in the bonus army?
Bonus Army marchers (left) confront the police. The Bonus Army was a group of 43,000 demonstrators – made up of 17,000 U.S. World War I veterans, together with their families and affiliated groups – who gathered in Washington, D.C. in mid-1932 to demand early cash redemption of their service certificates.
What was the Ruhr occupation?
Occupation of the Ruhr. Bonus Army. The Bonus Army was a group of 43,000 demonstrators – made up of 17,000 U.S. World War I veterans, together with their families and affiliated groups – who gathered in Washington, D.C. in mid-1932 to demand early cash redemption of their service certificates. Organizers called the demonstrators ...
When did the Wright Patman bonus bill pass?
On June 15, 1932 , the US House of Representatives passed the Wright Patman Bonus Bill (by a vote of 211-176) to move forward the date for World War I veterans to receive their cash bonus. The Bonus Army massed at the U.S. Capitol on June 17 as the U.S. Senate voted on the Bonus Bill. The bill was defeated by a vote of 62–18.
What was the final indignity of the Bonus Army?
The final indignity was mass cremation.”. Despite such treatment, the legacy of the Bonus Army lives on not only in the passing of the G.I. Bill in 1944, but in every sit-down strike, every march, and every demonstration for economic justice.
When did the bonus army camp start?
history is of the thousands of WWI veterans who came as the Bonus Army to Washington, D.C. to make a demand for their promised wartime bonuses. Bonus Army camp. July, 1932. Photo by Theodor Horydczak, Library of Congress.
Why were the Hoovervilles called Hoovervilles?
Arriving from all over the country, alone or with wives and children, both black and white veterans of huddled together, mostly across the Potomac River from the Capitol, in what were called “Hoovervilles,” in honor of the president who adamantly refused to hear their pleas.
When did the three military icons get their chance?
If they resist, they must be killed.”. The three military icons got their chance on July 28, 1932 when a scuffle by the BEF and D.C. police resulted in two fatally wounded veterans. The U.S. Army assault integrated four troops of cavalry, four companies of infantry, a machine gun squadron, and six tanks.
Who was the commander of the Bonus Marchers?
Bonus Marchers face police and army, 1932. Photo from National Archives. The commander of the operation was Army Chief of Staff Douglas MacArthur, who branded the BEF traitors bent on overthrowing the government. . . declaring, “Pacifism and its bedfellow communism are all around us.”.
Did FDR pay the bonuses?
FDR not only refused to pay the bonuses; he also reappointed MacArthur as Army Chief of Staff. Roosevelt did throw some veterans a New Deal bone when bonus seekers were given the opportunity to work in “Veterans Rehabilitation Camps” like those in the Florida Keys.
Did the Bonus Army invite Jim Crow?
As Mickey Z. explains in the article below, While they may have fought in Europe as a segregated army, the Bonus Army did not invite Jim Crow to this battle.
Where was the bonus army located?
Soon a debate began in the Congress over whether to meet the demonstrators' demands. As deliberation continued on Capitol Hill, the Bonus Army built a shantytown across the Potomac River in Anacostia Flats. When the Senate rejected their demands on June 17, most of the veterans dejectedly returned home.
When did the bonus march happen?
World War I veterans block the steps of the Capitol during the Bonus March, July 5, 1932. Many in America wondered if the nation would survive. Although the United States had little history of massive social upheaval or coup attempts against the government, hunger has an ominous way of stirring those passions among any population.
How many bonus marchers were disabled?
Nine out of ten Bonus Marchers were indeed veterans, and 20% were disabled. Despite the fact that the Bonus Army was the largest march on Washington up to that point in history, Hoover and MacArthur clearly overestimated the threat posed to national security.
Who led the army in Anacostia?
Fearing rising disorder, Hoover ordered an army regiment into the city, under the leadership of General Douglas MacArthur. The army, complete with infantry, cavalry, and tanks, rolled into Anacostia Flats forcing the Bonus Army to flee. MacArthur then ordered the shanty settlements burned.
What was the most important demonstration in the US during the Depression?
The demonstration that drew the most national attention was the Bonus Army march of 1932. In 1924, Congress rewarded veterans of World War I with certificates redeemable in 1945 for $1,000 each. By 1932, many of these former servicemen had lost their jobs and fortunes in the early days of the Depression.
Overview
The Bonus Army was a group of 43,000 demonstrators – made up of 17,000 veterans of the United States in World War I, together with their families and affiliated groups – who gathered in Washington, D.C. in mid-1932 to demand early cash redemption of their service bonus certificates. Organizers called the demonstrators the "Bonus Expeditionary Force" (B.E.F.), to echo the name of World War I's American Expeditionary Forces, while the media referred to them as the "Bonus Ar…
Origin of military bonuses
The practice of war-time military bonuses began in 1776, as payment for the difference between what a soldier earned and what he could have earned had he not enlisted. The practice derived from English legislation passed in the 1592–93 session of Parliament to provide medical care and maintenance for disabled veterans and bonuses for serving soldiers.
Campsite
Most of the Bonus Army (Bonus Expeditionary Force or BEF) camped in a form of "Hooverville" on the Anacostia Flats (now Section C of Anacostia Park), a swampy, muddy area away from the federal core of Washington. Approximately 10,000 veterans, women and children lived in the shelters that they built from materials dragged out of a junk pile nearby, which included old lumber, packin…
Police shooting
On July 28, under prodding from the Herbert Hoover, the D.C. Commissioners ordered Pelham D. Glassford to clear their buildings, rather than letting the protesters drift away as he had previously recommended. When the veterans rioted, an officer (George Shinault) drew his revolver and shot at the veterans, two of whom, William Hushka and Eric Carlson, died later.
Army intervention
At 1:40 pm, MacArthur ordered General Perry Miles to assemble troops on the Ellipse immediately south of the White House. Within the hour the 3rd Cavalry led by Patton, then a Major, crossed the Memorial Bridge, with the 12th Infantry arriving by steamer about an hour later. At 4 pm, Miles told MacArthur that the troops were ready, and MacArthur (like Eisenhower, by now in service uniform…
Aftermath
Joe Angelo, a decorated hero from the war who had saved Patton's life during the Meuse-Argonne offensive on September 26, 1918, approached him the day after to sway him. Patton, however, dismissed him quickly. This episode was said to represent the proverbial essence of the Bonus Army, each man the face of each side: Angelo the dejected loyal soldier; Patton the unmoved government official unconcerned with past loyalties.
In literature
The shootings are depicted in Barbara Kingsolver's novel The Lacuna.
See also
• Coxey's Army
• Fry's Army
• List of rallies and protest marches in Washington, D.C.
• List of incidents of political violence in Washington, D.C.