Rethinking the Bonus March
Rethinking the Bonus March
Federal Bonus Policy, Veteran Organizations, and the Origins of a Protest Movement
This chapter reexamines the Bonus March by exploring the organized efforts carried out by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) for full and immediate payment of the bonus. In doing so, the essay argues that the supposedly unprompted Bonus Army that moved on Washington in the summer of 1932 was in actuality responding to organized political activism orchestrated by the VFW. The chapter also argues that, moreover, by viewing the growth of the VFW and the origins of the march in tandem, the symbiotic relationship between federal policy and voluntary associations can be examined. The federal policy that outlined the Bonus's deferred features inadvertently led to the rapid political mobilization by veterans. When the largest of the veteran organizations, the American Legion, failed to challenge federal policy, veterans first flowed into the VFW and then onto the streets of the capital. In short, the federal policies aimed at benefiting veterans inadvertently transformed them into activist citizens.
Keywords: Bonus March, Bonus Army, Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, federal veterans’ policy, political activism
Florida Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .
