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 The 19th Century economy government of the United
States did not treat the citizens of this young country with much
respect. There were depressions every few years that created
unemployment, and failed businesses that affected large swaths of
the country. People were poor, and they were hungry.
The worst depression of the century occurred during the 1890’s. It
was so severe, its effects so devastating, that it is considered to
be second in line to the Great Depression of the 1930’s.
Five-hundred banks and 16,000 businesses failed.
Railroads that had been overbuilt failed, even though they tried to
survive by gouging farmers for shipping their grain. Farms failed
because of greedy railroads and grain storage companies.
During the 19th Century citizens just seemed to accept their lot and
tried to get on as best they could during the bad economic times.
All of that was about to change.
Gary Freese’s presentation concerned a movement that started in the
1890’s that created a revolution in the way the United States
government handled the economy of the country. “A businessman in
Massillon, Ohio, decided to try to do something about the
depression, to somehow convince the government that it was part of
its duty to help improve living conditions,” said Freese. That man’s
name was Jacob Coxey.
Coxey’s idea was to create a large contingent of the poor and
unemployed and march to Washington D.C., and present their
grievances in person to the leaders. He had to be an optimist,
because the U.S. government was not inclined to help the populace
withstand the destruction of the depression.
President Grover Cleveland was serving his second term in office. He
was on record that it was not the government’s position to help with
social services during hard times.
The United States Senate was not elected at that time, but was
appointed by the state legislatures. It had the reputation as being
full of rich businessmen placed in office by people bought off back
in the states.
So you had two entities, the presidency and the senate, that had
almost no sympathy for what it was like to be a member of the lower
class and unemployed.
This was also the time of the Chicago World’s Fair, an extravagant
fairyland that was surrounded by economic chaos. But Jacob Coxey had
a vision and he acted on it. And what was created was the first
protest march against the U.S. government.
Jacob Coxey created an army of 10,000 and began his march to
Washington, a so-called boots rebellion. It was a well regulated
group along the lines of an actual army.
Coxey did not want his army to be viewed as a bunch of hooligans
damaging the countryside as they went. His idea was to create a
group that would garner the sympathy of the populace as they went on
their way. He wanted the support of the general public and maybe
their food. The marchers had nothing. Coxey wanted to speak on the
steps of the U.S. Capitol surrounded by his army, to let the world
know what they were hoping to gain. His personal idea was that the
U.S. should spend more money on infrastructure to assist the growth
of business, which would increase production and employment. He
seemed to be echoing the words of Abraham Lincoln when he was a
member of the Illinois House, and spoke strongly in favor of the
government assisting in infrastructure development.
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A strange thing happened on Coxey’s journey to the nation’s
capitol. He inspired others throughout the country to form their own armies and
join the revolution of the people demanding help from the government. “Armies
set out from Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco, from Boston and
elsewhere,” said Gary Freese.
Many headed for Washington had similar intent as Coxey, but others had their
ideas of what was wrong with the country and how it should be changed. They
walked toward the nation’s capitol, and in some cases jumped trains to help
speed them on their journey. Others built rafts to float down the nation’s
rivers. All had the idea of presenting their grievances in person to the
government, something that had never been done before. They walked and walked,
sometimes through such remote places as Beason, Illinois in Logan County. The
army that approached Beason was received with graciousness and fed by the women
of the town before continuing their journey.
“The local paper in Lincoln was a weekly at the time, and each issue was filled
with page after page on the progress of Coxey’s Army and others like it. It was
a big deal at the time,” said Freese.
And what did Coxey’s Army accomplish? When he reached Washington, its number had
diminished to 300 from the original 10,000 that started out from Ohio. Other
armies faced a similar fate. When Jacob Coxey approached the Capitol steps to
give his speech, he was arrested for walking on the grass and jailed. So his
efforts to make the U.S. government help the people fell on deaf ears.
Or did it. “Wait, there’s more,” said Gary Freese.
While it may seem that Jacob Coxey did not accomplish anything in his initial
walk to Washington, things did change. The Constitution was changed to require
the election of senators. The government came to see a role in helping the
country recover from depression, as seen by the New Deal during the Great
Depression. And as we know, groups of people with something to say demonstrate
in Washington all the time protesting wars, segregation, discrimination of all
sorts, demand for the right to vote; and the politicians listen. Jacob Coxey
accomplished something huge after all.
The end of the story is even more interesting.
“Coxey actually did give the speech that he wanted to deliver in 1894 on the
steps of the Capitol. It was in 1914 and again in 1944 when he was ninety four
years old. Jacob Coxey did make a difference eventually, and marched his way
into the history books,” said Gary Freese.
The Logan County Genealogical and Historical Society has its monthly meeting on
the third Monday of the month at 6:30 p.m. They always have an interesting
speaker and the public is invited.
[Curtis Fox]
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