Question

The bonus army was made up of people from what group?

Answer 1

The correct answer is B) World War 1 Veterans.

The Bonus Army was made up of people from a group of World War 1 Veterans.

The Bonus Army was a reunion of 15,000 veterans of World War I. In 1932 gathered in Washington D.C. with their families to demand the U.S. government the payment of bonus compensations for their services during World War I. They were living hard times as a result of the Great Depression. They built tents to camp but the government sent troops to disperse them. Eventually, the U.S. Congress authorized $100,000 dollars to end the conflict.  

Answer 2

The correct answer is B. World War 1 Veterans.

Indeed, war veterans in the United States were entitled to a bonus that paid them the difference between the money they would have made in civilian life and what they were actually paid while in the military. It was British practice that was inherited by the American government after independence.

Such bonus was used to pay for health care and other medical services for veterans. In 1924, a bill to pay servicemen 1.25 $ for overseas service was passed by Congress, up to 625 $ per veteran. Over three million of these certificates were issued, with a deadline of 1945 to pay all of them to veterans. However, veterans could get loans on the face value of such certificates and use the money to pay for health care or just to survive.

When the Great Depression hit, most of these veterans were completely destitute and their only hope was to redeem their certificates before 1945 in order to survive economic hardship. 10, 000 of them settled a swampy area in Washington D.C. with their women and children and pressured Congress to pass a bill that would allow them to redeem such certificates in advance.

Congress repealed the bill and President Hoover sent the army to expel the Bonus Marchers with great brutality, killing two of them and injuring 100 in the process. It would ultimately cost him the presidency in the 1932 elections.