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13. how did americans react to the treatment of the bonus army?

by Katherine Kuhlman Published 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago

Bonus Army Fact 13: On July 17th the Patman bill was defeated in the Senate. The disappointed military veterans and their families were sorely disappointed but their reaction was a peaceful one.

Full Answer

What happened to the Bonus Army during the Great Depression?

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. The camp at 3rd Street and Pennsylvania Avenue also saw something new in American history: five tanks, armed with machine guns, rumbling about the streets of Washington.

What was the Bonus Army and why did they March?

Many Americans were suffering from the impact of the Depression and sympathized with the Bonus Army, believing Hoover and the government had done little-to …

Why didn't World War I veterans receive their bonuses?

While most of the “Bonus Army” left Washington in defeat, many stayed to press their case. Hoover called the remaining veterans “insurrectionists” and ordered them to leave. When thousands failed to heed the vacation order, General Douglas MacArthur, accompanied by local police, infantry, cavalry, tanks, and a machine gun squadron, stormed the tent city and routed …

How did President Hoover respond to the Bonus Army?

Updated on September 04, 2021. The Bonus Army was the name applied a group over 17,000 U.S. World War I veterans who marched on Washington, D.C. during the summer of 1932 demanding immediate cash payment of the service bonuses promised to them by Congress eight years earlier. Dubbed the “Bonus Army” and “Bonus Marchers” by the press, the group officially called …

How was the Bonus Army treated?

Army Chief of Staff General Douglas MacArthur commanded a contingent of infantry and cavalry, supported by six tanks. The Bonus Army marchers with their wives and children were driven out, and their shelters and belongings burned.

What was the response to the Bonus Army?

In mid-June the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that authorized an immediate payout of the bonuses to the veterans, but the Senate rejected the bill (62–18), and most of the veterans left for home discouraged.

What was the impact of the Bonus Army on American history?

The bonus marchers became highly symbolic of the federal government's responsibility for the prosperity of the American worker. It was a short leap for many Americans from the bonus marchers to questioning Hoover's opposition to aiding unemployed workers at large.

How did the federal government respond to the Bonus Army quizlet?

What was President Hoover's response to the Bonus Army's occupation of Washington, D. C.? President Hoover elected to ignore them, hoping they would go away. They did not. On June 17, 1932, Congress defeated the bill that called for immediate bonus payment some went home, but some stayed.

How did the events surrounding the Bonus Army in 1932 affect people's attitudes?

Terms in this set (6) How did the events surrounding the Bonus Army in 1932 affect people's attitudes? More Americans disliked Hoover. How long did the Great Depression last? audiences had very little money to spend on movies.

Was the Bonus Army peaceful?

The action was peaceful, until someone threw a brick, the police reacted with force, and two bonus marchers were shot. The situation quickly spiraled out of control, and the Hoover administration sent in the Army, led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

What was the Bonus Army quizlet?

A group of almost 20,000 World War I veterans who were hard-hit victims of the depression, who wanted what the government owed them for their services and "saving" democracy. They marched to Washington and set up public camps and erected shacks on vacant lots.

What did the Bonus Army want quizlet?

What did they want? They wanted their war bonus to be paid early because of the 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 outcome of the Bonus Army incident 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.

How did the events surrounding the Bonus Army in 1932 affect people's attitudes quizlet?

How did the events surrounding the Bonus Army in 1932 affect people's attitudes? More Americans wanted MacArthur to be president. More Americans began to dislike Hoover. More Americans joined the Bonus Army.

How did president Roosevelt treatment of the Bonus Army differ from Hoover's approach?

How did President Roosevelt's treatment of the Bonus Army differ from Hoover's approach? He showed that the government cared and sympathized with the marchers. How did President Roosevelt's first fireside chats affect Americans? They helped restore trust in the banking system.

How did Hoover's treatment of the Bonus Army affect his standing with the public?

Hoover's treatment of the Bonus Army greatly hurt his standing with the public. The Bonus Army gets its name from the Bonus that these World War I vets were promised. They were promised a delayed cash bonus at the end of the war. This delay was alright during the 1920's when times were good, but when these veterans were suffering from poverty in the Depression, they really wanted and needed this money. They began to ask President Hoover to give them their money early. When Hooper refused, they gathered together and about 15,000 of them marched on Washington in 1932. With little or no resources, they were forced to camp out within the city of Washington building their own little Hooverville. President Hoover was not amused and he not only refused to help them, he sent Douglas MacArthur after them with tanks. MacArthur set their camp aflame and forced them from Washington. This picture of Hoover sending the army after down and out former soldiers drew much criticism and greatly increased his reputation as uncaring and unfeeling. It also greatly hurt his reelection bid that year, helping FDR into office.

Who dispersed the bonus army?

Once the bill was defeated, Hoover sent troops and police officers to disperse the Bonus Army. When many veterans remained in the makeshift camps they had built in DC, officers shot and killed two of the veteran protesters. General MacArthur is perhaps even more to blame than Hoover for the continued violence. Twice Hoover ordered MacArthur not to pursue the protesters, yet MacArthur ignored Hoover's directives. Mac Arthur argued that the marchers, most of whom were fleeing or had fled, were attempting to overthrow the government, and he pursued them out of the Capitol, despite Hoover's demands to end the pursuit. During this "military operation" to drive the Bonus Army out of the Capitol, one wife of a veteran suffered a miscarriage and an infant died after being exposed to tear gas.

Did Hoover order MacArthur to pursue the protesters?

Twice Hoover ordered MacArthur not to pursue the protesters, yet MacArthur ignored Hoover's directives. Mac Arthur argued that the marchers, most of whom were fleeing or had fled, were attempting to overthrow the government, and he pursued them out of the Capitol, despite Hoover's demands to end the pursuit.

What was the Bonus Army called?

Dubbed the “Bonus Army” and “Bonus Marchers” by the press, the group officially called itself the “Bonus Expeditionary Force” to mimic the name of World War I's American Expeditionary Forces.

Who was the president of the Bonus Army?

The Aftermath of the Bonus Army Protest. In the 1932 presidential election, Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated Hoover by a landslide vote. While Hoover’s militaristic treatment of the Bonus Army veterans may have contributed to his defeat, Roosevelt had also opposed the veterans’ demands during the 1932 campaign.

How long were the veterans out of work in the Capitol?

They needed money, and the World War Adjusted Compensation Act of 1924 had promised to give them some, but not until 1945 -- a full 27 years after the end of the war they had fought in.

What happened on June 17, 1932?

Other Significant Dates: - June 17, 1932: U.S. Senate defeated a bill that would have advanced the date of payment of bonuses to the veterans. Two veterans and two D.C. police officers die in the ensuing protest.

Who ordered the bonus marchers to stand down?

When the veterans retreated back across the river to the Hooverville camp, President Hoover ordered the troops to stand down until the next day. MacArthur, however, claiming the Bonus Marchers were attempting to overthrow the U.S. government, ignored Hoover’s order and immediately launched a second charge.

What weapons did the Army use to evict the veterans?

With sabers, fixed bayonets, tear gas, and a mounted machine gun, the infantry and the cavalry charged the veterans, forcibly evicting them and their families from the smaller camps on the Capitol Building side of the Anacostia River.

Who was the commander of the Bonus Army?

On the morning of July 28, 1932, President Hoover, in his capacity as Commander in Chief of the military, ordered his Secretary of War Patrick J. Hurley to clear the Bonus Army camps and disperse the protesters. At 4:45 p.m., U.S. Army infantry and cavalry regiments under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, supported by six M1917 light tanks commanded by Maj. George S. Patton, assembled on Pennsylvania Avenue to carry out President Hoover’s orders.

Who benefitted politically from the expulsion of the Bonus Army?

To many Americans, the veterans were heroes, not the soldiers used to disperse them. Democratic presidential nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt benefitted politically from the expulsion of the Bonus Army.

Why did Roosevelt oppose the immediate payment of the bonus?

Roosevelt was opposed to the immediate payment of the bonus, because it would benefit one class of citizen at a time when all groups were suffering. After seeing newspaper photographs of the burning Bonus Army camp, however, he told an adviser that “this will elect me” because it would make President Hoover look bad.

When did the first veterans check start?

Roosevelt still opposed the bonus and vetoed it on several occasions, but it finally passed over his veto in 1936. In June of that year, the first veterans began cashing checks that averaged approximately $580 per man.

Why did veterans demand more money in 1932?

The most immediate reason for the demand made by war veterans in 1932 was that. they believed they deserved more pay for serving during the war and needed money. union workers then earned more money than American soldiers and Congress believed the soldiers deserved a bonus. the cost of living in America was rising.

Who thought the bonus army was the final blow to Hoover's reelection chances?

David Burner , one of Hoover’s biographers, thought the incident was the final blow to Hoover’s reelection chances: “In the minds of most analysts, whatever doubt had remained about the outcome of the presidential election was now gone: Hoover was going to lose. The Bonus Army was his final failure, his symbolic end.”.

Who was the secretary of war for the President when he refused to cross the bridge into Anacostia?

He tried to convince MacArthur not to cross the bridge into Anacostia. Secretary of War Patrick Hurley, speaking for the president, had specifically forbidden this action. Eisenhower told MacArthur that Hurley had sent two high-ranking officers to deliver orders directly to MacArthur, but MacArthur refused to see them.

Who burned the Anacostia Flats?

Little remained of the veterans’ camp on the Anacostia Flats after it was burned by the Army , led by General Patton. A young Dwight D. Eisenhower, MacArthur’s chief of staff, argued with his boss, insisting that the Army should stay out of what was essentially a local police matter.

What was the purpose of the Bonus Expeditionary Forces?

Calling themselves the "Bonus Expeditionary Forces," they demanded early payment of a bonus Congress had promised them for their service in World War I. 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 ...

When did the bonus army march to the Capitol?

Bonus Army marching to the Capitol; Washington, D.C. 5 July 1932, . Library of Congress. From the start, 1932 promised to be a difficult year for the country, as the Depression deepened and frustrations mounted.

Who ordered the Secretary of War to clear the affected area?

President Hoover ordered the Secretary of War to "surround the affected area and clear it without delay.". Conspicuously led by MacArthur, Army troops (including Major George S. Patton, Jr.) formed infantry cordons and began pushing the veterans out, destroying their makeshift camps as they went.

What did Walters say about the marchers?

Walters, organizing the various encampments along military lines, announced that there would be "no panhandling, no drinking, no radicalism," and that the marchers were simply "going to stay until the veterans' bill is passed.".

What happened in March at Ford's River Rouge plant?

In March, a riot at Ford's River Rouge plant in Michigan left four dead and over fifty wounded. Thus, when a band of jobless veterans, led by a former cannery worker named Walter W. Waters, began arriving in the capital in May, tensions were high. Calling themselves the "Bonus Expeditionary Forces," they demanded early payment ...

What was the cause of the hunger march in 1931?

In December of 1931, there was a small, communist-led hunger march on Washington; a few weeks later, a Pittsburgh priest led an army of 12,000 jobless men there to agitate for unemployment legislation. In March, a riot at Ford's River Rouge plant in Michigan left four dead and over fifty wounded.

When was the bonus march?

The Bonus March (May-July, 1932) Few images from the Great Depression are more indelible than the rout of the Bonus Marchers. At the time, the sight of the federal government turning on its own citizens -- veterans, no less -- raised doubts about the fate of the republic. It still has the power to shock decades later.

What did the Republican candidate promise to do in 1929?

Republican candidate who assumed the presidency in March 1929 promising the American people prosperity and attempted to first deal with the Depression by trying to restore public faith in the community.

How did the government help the economy during the depression?

programs to combat economic depression enacted a number of social insureance measures and used government spending to stimulate the economy; increased power of the state and the state's intervention in U.S. social and economic life.

When did the Supreme Court uphold the relocation order?

1944 Supreme Court case where the Supreme Court upheld the order providing for the relocation of Japanese Americans. It was not until 1988 that Congress formally apologized and agreed to pay $20,000 2 each survivor

What did Stalin hope would happen to Germany?

Though Hitler and Stalin were foes, Stalin hoped that Germany and the Western Democracies would kill each other off, leaving him the ruler of Europe. At long last Britain and France realized the folly of appeasement. Roosevelt promptly issued Neutrality proclamations including the Cash-and-Carry system.

What were the three major alliances that Hitler and Stalin were part of?

The three major Are Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and the Empire of Japan were part of an alliance. This was the surprise move by Hitler to secure his Eastern front, giving him the green light to march on Poland, and after that, his march on the Western Democracies. Though Hitler and Stalin were foes, Stalin hoped that Germany and ...

What was the Supreme Court's packaging plan?

Court packaging plan. Roosevelt's proposal in 1937 to "reform" the Supreme Court by appoint ing an additional justice for every justice over age of 70 ; following the Court's actions in striking down major New Deal laws, FDR came to believe that some justices were out of touch with the nation's needs.

What is the New Deal?

New Deal agency established to provide a public watchdog against deception and fraud in stock trading.

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