Were the Bonus Wars in the USA during WWI about unpaid salaries?
Upvote:5
I think you're referring to the Bonus Army. WWI vets were paid in full. The issue was over, you guessed it, a bonus for serving in a war zone.
Traditionally, US soldiers received a bonus for serving during war-time to make up the difference between what they would have earned as a civilian. This was not done after the Spanish-American War, and after WWI they got only a $60 bonus.
In 1924 the World War Adjusted Compensation Act attempted to correct this by offering a bonus of $1 for every day of the war served in the US, and $1.25 for every day overseas up to $625. President Coolidge vetoed the bill saying "Patriotism which is bought and paid for is not patriotism." Congress, realizing you can't pay the bills with patriotism, overrode the veto.
Up to $50 per veteran was to be handed out immediately. The rest would go into an Adjusted Service Certificate to be paid out, with interest, in 20 years. They were basically given a government bond redeemable in 1945. Vets could use the bond as collateral to borrow money, but they couldn't cash it in until 1945.
Then the Great Depression hit and suddenly these veterans were out of work and needed money right now, not in 1945. The Bonus Army, and others, demanded to be able to redeem their Certificates immediately. After a Congressional bill to do just that failed in the Senate 62 to 18, the Bonus Army was forcefully evicted by the US Army.
Finally, in 1936, Congress passed the Adjusted Compensation Payment Act which replaced the old Certificates with normal Treasury Bonds at an interest of 3%, better than a savings account, which matured in 1945. The vets could redeem them before then for cash, and most did. The sudden influx of $1.5 billion into consumer hands provided a quick, easy economic stimulus to counter the ongoing Depression.
At the end of WWII, rather than simply give a bonus and send the vets on their way, the issue of what to do with returning soldiers was handled with the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 aka the G.I. Bill that the US still uses today. This includes veterans benefits for unemployment, school, home ownership, and starting a business in effect helping to retrain millions of soldiers for civilian life.
More post
- π How did ancient mystery religions impact Christianity?
- π What are the Josephus Greek Epistles?
- π How did Mao Zedong's policy abuse affect those in the Five Black Categories during the Cultural Revolution?
- π Where and when did Nietzsche's sister meet Hitler?
- π Has the side with better equipment and worse logistics ever won?
- π Did the Allies benefit, by having Italy fight on Germany's side rather than remain neutral?
- π Can you help identify this European military uniform?
- π How was Mao Anying killed?
- π What were British voting qualifications in the 1770's?
- π Representative early Anglican hymns?
- π Did any country adopt a straight pull bolt-action rifle?
- π What was the strategic importance of Judea?
- π Who were the victims of the 1907 Tiflis bank robbery?
- π Who said "one can be a powerful king with a very small sceptre"?
- π Did New Imperialism differ in nature from earlier Imperialism?
- π Did Arab policymakers have plans for the Jewish population, in case of victory in 1948 War?
- π Did the Latins see the Etruscans as a plague?
- π Argentina's involvement with the League of Nations
- π Why are Mary I, Mary II and Anne not as famous as Elizabeth I, Victoria and Elizabeth II?
- π Would Victorian era British soldiers wear their short sword bayonets while wearing uniform when off duty?
- π How were Aksumite ships constructed?
- π Does anyone know if buccaneer snap and zippered pants are from the military?
- π Did the Pope's crossbow and archery bans have any effect?
- π Did New Mexicans under Spain regard themselves as Mexican?
- π Who was DΓ©Ε« Singh Baru, final raja of Nuwakot, Kakani?
- π Apart from Australia, has a serving head of government or state disappeared without trace?
- π Which cultures did *not* produce alcohol?
- π Travelling from England to China in 1810
- π Was the ancient Pontic city of Athenai (αΌΞΈαΏΞ½Ξ±ΞΉ) related to Athens?
- π How large were the East India Company armed forces?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- π Were the Bonus Wars in the USA during WWI about unpaid salaries?
- π Why were schoolchildren in the USA taught virtually nothing about the Holocaust during the fifties and sixties?
- π What did the Germans believe were the causes of WWI during the war and after?
- π When did the allies find out about the killing of Jews during WW2
- π What drugs were used in England during the High Middle Ages?
- π Why were so many more Jewish men than Jewish women killed during the Holocaust?
- π Why were there no internment camps for German-American citizens in USA during WW2?
- π Why were Albanians the only nation in the Balkans who converted to Islam during the Ottoman occupation?
- π What disruptions were brought about by Islam that the Arabians saw so many victories?
- π How beneficial were war bonds to the US during WWII
- π Were Russians in the cold war era USA discriminated against for their ethnicity?
- π Were there any travel restrictions during the Black Death pandemic?
- π Were there any high-ranking female soldiers during the Middle ages?
- π Why were the Irish exempt from conscription during WWI?
- π The WWI Christmas truce of 1914 resulted in no consequences, in spite of clear warnings against such beforehand - why were there no courts-martial?
- π Were Shakespeare's plays written for "high culture" or "entertain the bawdy masses" during his time?
- π Were soldiers in the World Wars paid?
- π About how many immigrants were on the Titanic?
- π Why were bloody religious wars so incredibly frequent in Europe in the century following the Reformation?
- π How educated were the clergy during the Medieval period?
- π How were the Bulgarians regarded by the Nazis during World War II?
- π How wide-spread was antisemitism in the USA during WWII?
- π During World War I, why were church bells stopped until the war was over?
- π What were the thoughts of the Celts, Romans and other ancient European people about the standing stones which survive from prehistoric times?
- π What did the Soviets know about the Hunger Plan during WWII?
- π Was it not clear to the WWI allies that they were over-reaching with the treaty of Sevres?
- π How could it be that 80% of townspeople were farmers during the Edo period in Japan?
- π What were the individual soldiers motivated by during World War 1?
- π How were the Venera Probe missions received/presented in the Western world during the space race?
- π Were any works completely lost during the Nazi book burnings?