World War I Veterans March in Washington (with text supports)
After World War I, Congress passed a bill promising each military veteran of that war a cash bonus that would be paid in 1945. In the summer of 1932, facing unemployment and poverty because of the Great Depression, veterans began demanding that the bonuses be distributed immediately. Nearly 20,000 veterans marched to Washington and camped out in the Anacostia Flats section of the city; newspapers called them the “bonus army.” This New York Times article describes a June march by some of the veterans down Pennsylvania Avenue, the street in Washington on which the White House is located. In late July, President Hoover used the army to force the demonstrators out of their main campground and set fire to their tents. Americans were horrified by this treatment of the poor and desperate veterans.
Creator | New York Times
Item Type | Newspaper/Magazine
Cite This document | New York Times, “World War I Veterans March in Washington (with text supports),” SHEC: Resources for Teachers, accessed April 24, 2024, https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/2022.
