Patman Bonus Deal

507 Words3 Pages

In the summer of 1932, during the great depression, thousands of world war one veterans marched into the capital of Washington D.C. With this march they had believed that the congress would authorize immediate payment bonds other words pass the Patman Bonus Bill. With these bonuses they wanted homes, and for those that were unemployed. As soon as they arrived the congress had refused to give them their money. Due to the denying of giving the money , they begin the move eastward , the leader Walter W. Waters, and other veterans had joined along on the march. They had all marched to the lobby to see the legislative passage of the bonus bill. As the veterans rode the rails , trudge along the highways, they wore their raggedy military uniforms . They received campgrounds which hoovervilles were made, but not just in that there were empty spaced buildings in downtown. Between seventeen and twenty thousand men were camped out beside the Washington Mall, this …show more content…

Despite the misstep of Hoover this scored Roosevelt political points. Roosevelt was about relief, reform and recovery. For this fact if he would have accepted the bonus bill earlier if would have allowed peace from the beginning. There wouldn 't have been the death of the two veterans shot by the police , the use of tanks to evacuate the veterans from the Washington Hall . Also there wouldn 't have been the threat to the national security. Not just that there wouldn’t be the hunger of the veterans . Concluding , the veterans of the Great War were really upset that the army would disrespect. In the march there were nine out of ten veterans , and about twenty percent that were disabled. This shows that there were people out there that would risk going knowing that the veterans were never the same before the war , and that sick people would go knowing the risk. At the end of the fight in 1918 they allowed the bonus bill they left with promised cash bonus , but didn 't get paid till

Open Document