Apr 28, 2020
This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we
take a look at the original March on Washington. “Coxey’s Army” was
a group of 500 men who amidst a terrible economic depression in
1894, marched from Ohio to the nation’s capital to demand that
Congress provide employment through public works projects. They
were turned away, but many of the Populist ideas that inspired them
were enacted into law in the coming decades.
Feature Story: “Coxey’s Army” Arrives in Washington,
DC
On April 30, 1894 a man named Jacob Coxey arrived in Washington,
DC at the head of a group of about 500 men. By then the whole
nation knew them as “Coxey’s Army.” They had set out weeks earlier
from Coxey’s hometown of Massillon, Ohio in what was the first ever
March On Washington.
So what was the fuss all about? The immediate answer was that in
the spring of 1894 the United States was in the midst of the most
severe economic depression in its history. It was triggered one
year earlier by the financial Panic of 1893 which caused tens of
thousands of businesses and farms to fail, and the unemployment
rate to soar to 20% - and often. Double that in big cities like
Chicago and New York. The US had seen its share of economic
depressions in the 19th century – the panic of 1837, the panic of
1857, the panic of 1873, just to name a few. In each of these
previous cases, political leaders agreed that the best policy was:
do nothing. Depressions, the reasoning went, were like bad weather
or an illness. Wait long enough, and the good times would return.
The most dangerous thing the government could do was provide
assistance to the people because, so the logic went, that would
only foster dependence and lead the US down the path to socialism.
Here’s how President Grover Cleveland put it in his second
inaugural address, in March 1893. “The lessons of paternalism ought
to be unlearned,” said Cleveland, “and the better lesson taught
that while the people should patriotically and cheerfully support
their Government its functions do not include the support of the
people.”
But despite proclamations such as these, there was growing support
among many Americans in this period known as the Gilded Age for the
government to take a more active role in the economy to protect the
vulnerable from exploitation and promote the greatest possible
amount of opportunity for all. They argued that laissez-faire might
have made sense back in the late-18th century when the US took
form. But not anymore in an age of industry, wage work, mass
immigration, huge cities, and giant corporations.
That was the view that inspired Jacob Coxey. He was no radical, at
least compared to the socialists, communists, and anarchists of the
day. He was a successful farmer who also bred horses for sale and
owned a sand quarry business. But as a farmer in the 1880s, he’d
gotten involved in the burgeoning protest movement among farmers
that came to be called Populism. Its leaders argued that the only
way to effectively battle the power of the monopolies and trusts
was to create a political movement that would elect farmers or
pro-farmer politicians to office, so they could use political power
to curb the power of banks, railroads, and brokers and save the
honest American farmer from ruin. And in 1892 they established a
new national party called the People’s Party that called for a wide
range of new government policies, everything from taking over the
railroads and telegraphs, to the adoption of a graduated income tax
that would make the rich pay their fair share. Its candidate for
president that year polled a million votes and won four states. It
was no joke.
So his embrace of Populism explains Jacob Coxey’s motivation behind
his protest march. He advocated that, given the severity of the
depression, the federal government must abandon its traditional
commitment to laissez-faire and provide funding to states to create
public works projects such as road building to alleviate mass
unemployment and stimulate the economy.
Now, if this sounds familiar, it’s because Coxey was advocating an
approach to economic crisis that 40 years later would be embraced
by Pres. Franklin Delano Roosevelt during the Great Depression. And
succeeding administrations, of course, have turned to varying forms
of “stimulus packages” to boost the economy and help workers in
times of economic crisis.
To draw attention to this idea, Coxey organized his march to
Washington, D.C. He actually got the idea from a fellow activist
named Carl Browne who was more of a true blue radical. He not only
came up with the idea of a march, but also the group’s official
name, the “Commonweal of Christ,” which was intended to evoke both
the ideals of the common good and Christianity. About 120 men
gathered in Massillon, OH and on Easter Sunday 1894 they set off
for the nation’s capital.
As the press picked up the story, the group acquired a new name,
“Coxey’s Army.” It was meant on the one hand to evoke ridicule and
on the other to stoke fears of radicalism and civil unrest. The
press alternately dismissed them as a bunch of delusional cranks,
or a dangerous group of losers who wanted handouts and a socialist
revolution. But Coxey dismissed this talk and declared that his
army’s campaign was one to save the republic and honest capitalism
from the clutches of corporate trusts and the politicians they
controlled.
Despite the negative press, as they marched, more men joined the
ranks, including some African American men. Coxey had hoped to
assemble an "army" of 100,000 men. But he had to settle for a peak
of 500.
In some places they were met by hostile townspeople and policemen
who threatened arrest if they set up camp. But in many places Coxey
and his growing number of followers were greeted by enthusiastic
supporters who offered money, food, clothing, and shoes, as well as
words of support.
Finally, after walking 400 miles in 35 days, Coxey’s Army arrived
in Washington on April 30, 1894. As this was the first ever protest
march on Washington, apprehension was in the air as the men set up
a makeshift camp. Hundreds of police and 1,500 soldiers stood by,
ready for a confrontation. The next day, May 1, Coxey tried to
enter the US Capitol to deliver a speech before Congress, but
security guards turned him away. So, Coxey tried the next best
thing: delivering the speech in front of the Capitol. But before he
started speaking, police arrested him and took him off to
jail. He was charged with “disturbing the peace,” but the
charges were eventually reduced and he was convicted only for
walking on the lawn of the Capitol grounds.
Had he spoken, Jacob Coxey would have said, in part: “We stand here
to-day in behalf of millions of toilers whose petitions have been
buried in committee rooms, whose prayers have been unresponded to,
and whose opportunities for honest, remunerative, productive labor
have been taken from them by unjust legislation, which protects
idlers, speculators, and gamblers.”
While Jacob Coxey did not get what he came for in Washington DC,
the larger Populist movement to which he belonged did influence a
generation of reformers who, in what we now call the Progressive
Era, achieved notable successes in enacting many of the Populist
Party demands, and so much more, ranging from regulations on trusts
to measures to improve working conditions, public health, and
political reform.
And then there’s this - 50 years later to the day after he was
arrested for trying to give a speech on the steps of the US
Capitol, in Washington, DC, a 90-year old Jacob Coxey was allowed
to deliver that speech. On May 1, 1944, he stood on the Capitol
steps and said what had been on his mind back in 1894.
But by then, in the wake of the New Deal and its vast array of
government programs to alleviate suffering during the Great
Depression, Coxey’s speech seemed hardly radical at all. What a
difference half a century makes.
So what else of note happened this week in US history?
April 28, 1967 heavyweight champion boxer Muhammad Ali defies the
draft and refuses to be inducted into the US military to fight in
Vietnam. Ali argued that his religious beliefs prohibited him from
participating in a war against the poor, nonwhite people of
Vietnam. He was widely condemned for his stand, and subsequently
stripped of his boxing title and sentenced to five years in prison.
“I have nothing to lose by standing up for my beliefs,” said Ali.
“So I'll go to jail, so what? We've been in jail for 400 years.”
The sentence was later overturned.
April 30, 1789 The first presidential inauguration took place in
New York City. George Washington took the oath of office at Federal
Hall on Wall St before a crowd of thousands.
April 30, 1975 South Vietnam fell to the forces of North Vietnam,
marking the unofficial end of the Vietnam War. For Americans, this
moment is captured in the photograph of people boarding a
helicopter on the roof of the American embassy in Saigon. If you
want to learn more about the Vietnam War, check out ITPL episode 39
featuring my interview with Ken Burns about his documentary on the
war.
And what notable people were born this week in American
history?
April 27, 1822 – Union Army general and 18th POTUS, Ulysses S.
Grant
April 28, 1758 – 5th POTUS James Monroe
April 29, 1899 - composer and jazz orchestra leader Duke
Ellington
May 2, 1903 - Dr Benjamin Spock, author of the best selling book on
baby care
May 3, 1919 – folk singer and social justice activist Pete
Seeger
The Last Word
Let’s give it to Jacob Coxey, who 126 years ago this
week arrived at the head of the first march on Washington.
Here’s a passage from the speech he hoped to deliver that day from
the steps of the US Capitol.
“We stand here to declare by our march of over 400 miles through
difficulties and distress…that we are law-abiding citizens, and as
men our actions speak louder than words. We are here to petition
for legislation which will furnish employment for every man able
and willing to work; for legislation which will bring universal
prosperity and emancipate our beloved country from financial
bondage to the descendants of King George. We have come to the only
source which is competent to aid the people in their day of dire
distress. We are here to tell our Representatives, who hold their
seats by grace of our ballots, that the struggle for existence has
become too fierce and relentless. We come and throw up our
defenseless hands, and say, help, or we and our loved ones must
perish. We are engaged in a bitter and cruel war with the enemies
of all mankind—a war with hunger, wretchedness, and despair, and we
ask Congress to heed our petitions and issue for the nation’s good
a sufficient volume of the same kind of money which carried the
country through one awful war and saved the life of the nation.
… we appeal to every peace-loving citizen, every liberty-loving man
or woman, every one in whose breast the fires of patriotism and
love of country have not died out, to assist us in our efforts
toward better laws and general benefits.”
For more information about the In The Past Lane podcast, head to our website, www.InThePastLane.com
Music for This Episode
Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com)
The Joy Drops, “Track 23,” Not Drunk (Free Music Archive)
Sergey Cheremisinov, “Gray Drops” (Free Music Archive)
Pictures of the Flow, “Horses” (Free Music Archive)
Ondrosik, “Tribute to Louis Braille” (Free Music Archive)
Alex Mason, “Cast Away” (Free Music Archive)
Squire Tuck, “Nuthin’ Without You” (Free Music Archive)
Ketsa, “Multiverse” (Free Music Archive)
Ketsa, “Memories Renewed” (Free Music Archive)
Dana Boule, “Collective Calm” (Free Music Archive)
Borrtex, “Motion” (Free Music Archive)
Blue Dot Sessions, "Pat Dog" (Free Music Archive)
Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive)
The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)
Production Credits
Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer
Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci
Website by: ERI Design
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© In The Past Lane, 2020
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