Oct. 12, 2005
back to syllabus        link to instructions for first short paper

The Bonus Army--America at the Bottom of the Depression / Was the Worldwide Depression "Made in America"?

We'll begin with a documentary video excerpt on the "Bonus Army" of 1932.  The Bonus March on Washington, DC indicates the desperation of many ordinary Americans during the Great Depression.  It also gives us a glimpse at the potential for an authoritarian military solution to an American crisis. 
Watch Vintage Newsreel Coverage of the Bonus Marchers        Bonus Army Photos
Another Bonus Army Website

I. The Depression and the World Economy

    A. The Depression as a European Import?

    B. A Depression "Made in the USA"?

    C. International Cooperation or Every Nation for Itself?

II. America's Depression and the World Depression

    A. Comparisons with other American depressions

    B. Comparisons with other countries in the 1930s

    C. Democracy and the Depression

 
                    Bonus Army Quarters--Washington, DC

  
                                Marchers Rally for Passage of Bonus Bill

                 
General MacArthur with Eisenhower                                    Police Evict Bonus Marchers