Holy cow! History — Protests in America aren’t new; the first march on Washington harkens back to 1894

J. Mark Powell

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Coxey’s Army is considered the first march on Washington, a tactic later refined by protest groups to mobilize popular support. Although the federal action Coxey and his army sought didn’t happen, the experience triggered discussion about the government’s role in times of economic crisis.”

The American lexicon was once filled with dozens, hundreds of charmingly quaint phrases that have now gone the way of the dodo. A particular favorite was, “There was enough food to feed Coxey’s army.” While your grandparents and great-grandparents would have understood it, saying it these days would be met with a puzzled expression followed by, “Who was Coxey?” “Why did he have an army?” And, the most practical of all, “Why was it hungry?”

All good questions deserve an answer. And believe it or not, they all go back to the very first protest march on Washington more than 130 years ago. Because this group made its way on foot across this country with a shared goal. Although it didn’t achieve anything its participants sought, it did cause quite an uproar. And it concluded with an incident that left us with that once-popular phrase.

This is the forgotten tale of Coxey’s Army.

The economy suffered a nasty downturn in the Panic of 1893. It was the nation’s worst financial crisis until then. Millions of working people were suddenly unemployed. Suffering was widespread and severe.

Some folks wanted immediate action from Washington. They demanded that Congress pass a bill authorizing $500 million to build roads and other public works projects, creating jobs and stimulating the economy. (Think of it as a forerunner of FDR’s New Deal 40 years later.) And they wanted Congress to do it PDQ.

Jacob Coxey was one of the idea’s most enthusiastic backers. A 40-year-old sand quarry owner in Massillon, Ohio, he was a dedicated Populist with a witty turn of phrase. Though friends and family considered him something of an oddball, his belief that Congress should act to end suffering was sincere.

Coxey proposed a radical plan. He would personally lead unemployed men to Washington, where they would march to the U.S. Capitol and present their demands to congressional movers and shakers

It’s likely the idea didn’t originate with Coxey. Three dozen groups of out-of-work men around the country were proposing similar steps. But Coxey was among the first, and because he was so quotable, his effort received the lion’s share of news coverage.

Coxey grandly christened his effort the Army of the Commonwealth In Christ. The press dubbed it simply Coxey’s Army. When it set out from Massillon on Easter Sunday 1894, Coxey was at the head of 100 men, confidently predicting their ranks would swell to 100,000 by the time they reached Washington. His young wife and son, Legal Tender Coxey (yes, that was the poor kid’s real name), went with him.

It was a madcap, haphazard affair from the start. In that time long before social media, it was difficult to get the word out and organize. So, different groups started for Washington at different times. As for logistics, planning wasn’t Jacob Coxey’s forte. He seemed to improvise as the group moved by foot from town to town, camping outdoors and feasting on whatever food local supporters provided.

New recruits came in as other protesters dropped out. The whole thing was ragtag from start to finish. However, it did generate a lot of news coverage. In the age of Yellow Journalism, newspapers eagerly covered the march. Many reports were derisive. The country was laughing at Coxey’s Army as it plodded eastward. Yet there was also silent anxiety under the surface, a fear that perhaps the marchers would unleash social forces that would prove impossible to control.

But things didn’t turn out that way. Barely 500 men were with Coxey when his “army” sauntered into Washington. Just as they were about to present their demands to Congress, Coxey was arrested for walking on the Capitol lawn grass.

Exhausted, tired of being the butt of jokes, and now leaderless, the men finally had enough. They quietly disbanded and went home.

However, seeds were sown that eventually bore fruit. Coxey’s Army is considered the first march on Washington, a tactic later refined by protest groups to mobilize popular support. Although the federal action Coxey and his army sought didn’t happen, the experience triggered discussion about the government’s role in times of economic crisis.

Finally, Coxey was ridiculed as “Keep Off the Grass Coxey.” That nickname led to a popular phrase that’s still used today: “Keep off the grass.”

Along with “Enough food to feed Coxey’s army.”

You never know what unintended consequences a good protest may produce.

Editor’s note: J. Mark Powell is a novelist, former TV journalist and diehard history buff. Have a historical mystery that needs solving? A forgotten moment worth remembering? Send it to him at HolyCow@insidesources.com. Please send your comments to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.