Officials in Washington expected that the Bonus Marchers would all go home. Library of Congress, Sign up for the American Experience newsletter! Four years later, in 1936, the veterans did get their bonus, when Congress voted the money over President Franklin Roosevelt’s veto. Rate! By 1932, the Depression was still dragging on, with no end in sight. Army Chief of Staff MacArthur was convinced that the march was a communist conspiracy to undermine the government of the United States, and that "the movement was actually far deeper and more dangerous than an effort to secure funds from a nearly depleted federal treasury." In March, a riot at Ford's River Rouge plant in Michigan left four dead and over fifty wounded. Most of the time, the gatherings have been peaceful. Q: Did the veterans ever receive their Bonus? A riveting account of the event that helped give rise to the modern American militia movement. n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; Secretary of War Hurley twice sent orders to MacArthur indicating that the President, worried that the government reaction might look overly harsh, did not wish the Army to pursue the Bonus Marchers across the bridge into their main encampment on the other side of the Anacostia River. President Hoover released a statement on July 28, in which he twice referred to “so-called bonus marchers,” and added, “An examination of a large number of names discloses the fact that a considerable part of those remaining are not veterans; many are Communists and persons with criminal records.”. Bonus Marchers, in U.S. history, more than 20,000 veterans, most of them unemployed and in desperate financial straits, who, in the spring of 1932, spontaneously made their way to Washington, D.C. Officials in Washington expected that the Bonus Marchers would all go home. {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? At first, it seemed as though order might be maintained. The marchers were encouraged when the House of Representatives passed the Patman veterans bill on June 15, despite President Hoover's vow to veto it. Bill, to assist veterans in receiving a higher education. Another World War II name, George O. Patton, was also taking part. Congress to failed to pass legislation for early payment to the veterans. One of the exceptions was the Bonus army in March of 1932. Wherever they were, however, those in the resistance did all they could to survive and prepare for MacArthur's promised return. $2.3 billion. Along the way the “Bonus March” picked up recruits and arrived in Washington numbering between 8,000 and 25,000 men. Bonus Army marchers (left) confront the police. Known as Bonus Marchers, they came in desperation from all across the nation, hopping freight trains, driving dilapidated jalopies or hitchhiking, intent on pressuring Congress to pass the legislation. In 1944, while World War II was still raging, Congress passed the G.I. Suffering and desperate, the BEF’s goal was to get the bonus payment now, when they really needed the money. When did the Bonus Marchers march on Washington? In May 1932, jobless WWI veterans organized a group called the “Bonus Expeditionary Forces” (BEF) to march on Washington, DC. Download the official NPS app before your next visit. Estimated 12,000 (up to 40,000 depending on source) How did Hoover respond to the Bonus Marchers? The Anacostia site was given the name Camp Bartlett, after its owner John H. Bartlett, former Assistant Postmaster General and former Governor of New Hampshire who let the veterans camp there. The bonus veterans were in no mood to leave, so the army began using tear gas and bayonets to drive them away, and employing torches to set fire to the shanty towns. } Bonus Army, gathering of some 10,000 to 25,000 World War I veterans 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. In the summer of 1932, World War I veterans, like the rest of the citizenry, were suffering from the ravages of the Great Depression. Out of 30 papers, 21 more or less supported the government’s response. On July 28, officials sent in the Washington police to evict the marchers. According to journalist and eyewitness Joseph C. Harsch, "This was not a revolutionary situation. The numbers dropped, but the hard core among them stayed. Out of sheer desperation, some of the veterans decided to march on Washington to … The major sites included 12th Street and B Street, NW (the latter is now Constitution Avenue), 3rd Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, and the largest, 30 acre site on the Anacostia Flats. On July 28, officials sent in the Washington police to evict the marchers. Calling themselves the "Bonus Expeditionary Forces," they demanded early payment of a bonus Congress had promised them for their service in World War I. In his biography of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, “FDR,” Jean Edward Smith wrote: “Washington officials coped the best they could. As for the newspapers of that day, the Associated Press released a list briefly describing their editorial reactions. They demanded passage of a bill introduced by Representative Wright Patman providing for immediate payment of their World Bonus Army marching to the Capitol; Washington, D.C. 5 July 1932,. Two weeks later the US House of Representatives did in fact vote to provide the bonus, but the US Senate rejected it. It still has the power to shock decades later. var googletag = googletag || {}; The Ohio State Journal, of Columbus, Ohio, for instance, wrote: “President Hoover chose the course that Lincoln chose, that presidents have always chosen.”, On the other hand, the Chicago Herald and Examiner, referring to President Hoover by name, called his actions “sheer stupidity” that were “without parallel in American annals.”. - Refused to pay the bonus - Fired on them, 11 month old baby killed. 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. In the coming weeks, he was to prove more sympathetic to the men than the other authorities, and they appreciated it. They began a long trek to Washington aboard a freight train, loaned to them for free by the rail authorities. Throughout its history, Washington, DC has been the destination of demonstrators seeking to promote a wide variety of causes. "For some days police authorities and Treasury officials have been endeavoring to persuade the so-called bonus marchers to evacuate certain buildings which they were occupying without permission. While it's not clear which side started the blaze, the sight of the great fire became the signature image of the greatest unrest our nation's capital has ever known. The Bonus marchers celebrated. Two months before, the so-called Bonus Expeditionary Force, a group of some 1,000 World War I The numbers dropped, but the hard core among them stayed. 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. t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; Eleanor Roosevelt and the Bonus Marchers 9/8/2014 in DC , Virginia by Patrick Kiger In 1932, as the nation lingered in the desperate depths of the Great Depression, thousands of World War I veterans and their families marched on Washington to demand immediate lump-sum payment of their military pensions. The action was peaceful until someone threw a brick, the police reacted with force, and two bonus marchers were shot. Out of work and overwhelmed by the Depression, they had decided to go to Washington, D.C. to lobby Congress for early payment of a soldier’s bonus that was scheduled to be paid in 1945. By 1932, the Depression was still dragging on, with no end in sight.

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