Coxey’s Army or Coxey’s Folly?
Jacob Coxey led an army of unemployed men in a march on Washington, but government could not be relied upon to solve their problems.
The Panic of 1893 led to the worst economic depression in U.S. history up to that time. Quarry owner Jacob Sechler Coxey of Ohio responded by assembling a group of unemployed workers to serve a “petition on boots” by marching on Washington to demand jobs. Officially called the Army of the Commonweal in Christ, it became popularly known as Coxey’s Army.[1]
This was the first major protest march on the capital. Coxey sought to persuade the federal government to print $500 million in paper money, then spend it on public works projects such as road construction and infrastructure improvement. However, this failed to consider that inflating the money supply would devalue the currency already in existence, thus raising the cost of living and making everybody poorer. And if government “make-work” jobs were necessary and cost effective, they would have already been handled by private interests.[2]
Coxey’s Army on the march | Photo via Wikipedia
Nevertheless, as many as 20,000 “Coxeyites” headed to Washington through various routes. Although Coxey’s group started from Ohio, many others started from as far as the Pacific coast. Some hijacked trains before they were stopped by authorities. Besides that, the march was relatively peaceful, with many westerners supporting the movement. Up to 5,000 people held a picnic to honor Coxey in Nebraska.[3]
Coxey himself started out at the head of 100 people, including his son Legal Tender Coxey, from Massillon, Ohio on March 25, 1894. The number grew to about 500 as they passed through Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, westerners faced increased hostility as they begged their way east. Newspaper coverage was largely positive, but some expressed concern about the “hobo army” coming into their towns. Coxey had boasted that he would lead over 100,000 men into Washington, but by the time he arrived, only 500 followers were with him.[4]
Some 10,000 supporters watched Coxey’s Army enter Washington on May 1. They marched to the Capitol, where Coxey planned to deliver a speech. But instead they were met by 1,500 federal troops. Unbeknownst to Coxey, an 1882 law required petitioners to first seek permission from the U.S. vice president or the House speaker to set foot on Capitol grounds. Police barred them from proceeding, but Coxey and two others climbed a fence and were arrested for trespassing on the Capitol lawn. With Coxey’s arrest, his followers dispersed and the movement quickly faded. [5]
The march on Washington was cheered by some and derided by others. Responding to the notion that the country was suffering from an economic sickness, a Chicago newspaper scoffed, “The country is sick just to the extent that its people try to lean on the government instead of standing upright on their own two feet.” Conservatives likened Coxeyite demands for government aid with high tariff supporters in that both sought “to be supported… at public expense.” In fact, Coxey’s movement was so unpopular that most politicians disavowed it to avoid voter backlash.[6]
On the 50th anniversary of Coxey’s march on Washington, a 94-year old Coxey finally delivered his speech on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. By that time, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal had handed out everything Coxey requested and more. However, it did nothing to alleviate unemployment, as government can only fund public works by taking money from private interests and taxpayers, who are much more effective at stimulating the economy when given the freedom to put their money to use.[7]
Coxey’s Army was the largest protest march on Washington up to that time. But it was just one of several so-called “Industrial Armies” organizing to protest the misery of the depression and demand government action. Regardless of whether or not government complied with their demands for aid, the lesson was that government dependence could not make things better.
[1] David Wallechinsky and Irving Wallace (ed.), The People’s Almanac (New York: Doubleday, 1975), p. 205; Robert W. Cherny, American Politics in the Gilded Age (Wheeling, IL: Harlan Davidson, Inc., 1997), p. 114-15; Heather Cox Richardson, West from Appomattox (Yale University Press, 2008), p. 285
[2] http://history1800s.about.com/od/organizedlabor/ss/Coxeys-Army-1894-March.htm; Richardson, West from Appomattox, p. 285; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coxey%27s_Army
[3] Wallechinsky and Wallace, The People’s Almanac, p. 205; Cherny, American Politics in the Gilded Age, p. 114-15; Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States (New York: HarperCollins, 2003), p. 294
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coxey%27s_Army; http://history1800s.about.com/od/organizedlabor/ss/Coxeys-Army-1894-March.htm; Richardson, West from Appomattox, p. 285; http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Coxey’s_Army?rec=583
[5] http://history1800s.about.com/od/organizedlabor/ss/Coxeys-Army-1894-March.htm; http://www.coxeysarmy.org/
[6] Cherny, American Politics in the Gilded Age, p. 114-15
[7] http://www.coxeysarmy.org/
