1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,279 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:17,320 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy Vie Wilson. So, Uh, 4 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:20,759 Speaker 1: in the midst of today's very bananas world, which I 5 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:22,520 Speaker 1: think we have both talked about a lot, has been 6 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:26,320 Speaker 1: informing our choices of topics lately, uh, and which is 7 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 1: involving this constant news cycle of economic instability and protests 8 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:35,040 Speaker 1: and those things being hashed and rehashed and discussed for 9 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:39,320 Speaker 1: their various merits, uh lack thereof in some cases. I 10 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:42,760 Speaker 1: got to thinking about earlier protests and wanting to talk 11 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:47,240 Speaker 1: more about those and specifically the first protest march on Washington, 12 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:49,800 Speaker 1: d C. And that is the story of Coxey's Army, 13 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 1: and it is one that's been requested a lot of times. 14 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 1: It's really easy when you look at the facts of 15 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:57,600 Speaker 1: it to see why it is so compelling to people 16 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:00,240 Speaker 1: and why people request it because in a day should 17 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:03,400 Speaker 1: de parallels to our current situation. Uh. There are also 18 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:05,880 Speaker 1: just a lot of really fascinating details in the mix. 19 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:09,640 Speaker 1: So today is the day, and we're covering Jacob Coxey 20 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:13,320 Speaker 1: and what came to be known colloquially as Coxey's Army. Yes, 21 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:15,280 Speaker 1: I feel like this one has been on both of 22 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:19,640 Speaker 1: our lists at points because so many people have asked 23 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:22,279 Speaker 1: for it. Um So we've talked on the show before 24 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 1: about the Panic of eight and the economic crash that 25 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:30,160 Speaker 1: came along with it. Railroad overbuilding that was financed through 26 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:33,360 Speaker 1: just really unsound lending practices had caused a lot of 27 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:36,560 Speaker 1: railroads to go under, and then that coupled with a 28 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:39,479 Speaker 1: run on the gold supply, the country was plunged into 29 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:43,480 Speaker 1: what amounted to a financial freefall. Those are obviously broad strokes, 30 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:47,160 Speaker 1: but since we have covered this many many times before, uh, 31 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:50,360 Speaker 1: we're just doing the light touch version. But as a 32 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: result of that panic, five hundred banks closed across the country, 33 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:58,040 Speaker 1: and fifteen thousand businesses shut their doors for the last time, 34 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:01,520 Speaker 1: and seventy four railroads, which had been a huge economic 35 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:05,160 Speaker 1: driver in a lot of places, ceased operations. And this 36 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:09,600 Speaker 1: was of course all happening before things like unemployment insurance. 37 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:13,000 Speaker 1: So workers that had come into the labor market in 38 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:17,000 Speaker 1: a new industrial age and were prepared to work in 39 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:20,080 Speaker 1: that industrial age suddenly had no work and they also 40 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:24,639 Speaker 1: had no safety net. President Grover Cleveland continued his anti 41 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:27,040 Speaker 1: welfare stance that he had held for a long time. 42 00:02:27,639 --> 00:02:30,639 Speaker 1: We talked about this earlier on in our episode about 43 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:34,480 Speaker 1: Grover Cleveland's secret surgery. But in short, he thought that 44 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:37,960 Speaker 1: this rush to embrace silver with the Sherman Silver Purchase 45 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:42,000 Speaker 1: Act had been a woeful misstep economically. He thought there 46 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:44,560 Speaker 1: needed to be a course correction, and he also felt 47 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:48,399 Speaker 1: really strongly that financial assistance for the country's common man 48 00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:52,240 Speaker 1: was just not the business of the government. In seven, 49 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: during his first term, he had vetoed a bailout for 50 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: Texas farmers who were trying to get through a drought, 51 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:00,679 Speaker 1: and he wrote this as part of the the two 52 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:04,079 Speaker 1: I can find no warrant for such an appropriation in 53 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 1: the Constitution, and I do not believe that the power 54 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:10,600 Speaker 1: and duty of the General Government ought to be extended 55 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:13,760 Speaker 1: to the relief of individual suffering, which is in no 56 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:18,200 Speaker 1: manner properly related to the public service or benefit. A 57 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:22,200 Speaker 1: prevalent tendency to disregard the limited mission of this power 58 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 1: and duty should, I think, be steadfastly resisted, to the 59 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:29,639 Speaker 1: end that the lesson should be constantly enforced, that though 60 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:32,880 Speaker 1: the people support the government, the government should not support 61 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:37,440 Speaker 1: the people. That's a whole bag of weasels to unpack. 62 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:42,600 Speaker 1: Chicago during this time reported an uptick in crime, not 63 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: because people turned to crime as a way to make 64 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 1: an illicit living in desperation, but because they wanted desperately 65 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:53,680 Speaker 1: to get arrested. Jail or prison, which offered shelter and 66 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:57,280 Speaker 1: regular meals, was preferable to the streets in a Chicago winter. 67 00:03:57,480 --> 00:04:01,240 Speaker 1: And other cities. Also wrestled was Miller problems and how 68 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:04,480 Speaker 1: to manage a population that was losing its housing and 69 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:09,480 Speaker 1: ultimately completely losing stability. Of course, everyone wanted things to improve, 70 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: but not many saw a way to get through this 71 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:16,600 Speaker 1: turbulent time. And that is where we get to Jacob Coxey, 72 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 1: who came up with a novel plan. So at the 73 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:23,120 Speaker 1: center of this story is this man, Jacob Seckler Coxey 74 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:25,760 Speaker 1: and Coxey was the son of a sawmill engineer named 75 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:29,919 Speaker 1: Thomas Coxey. Jacob was born in Sellen's Grove, Pennsylvania, on 76 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 1: April six, eighteen fifty four, in the log house he 77 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:36,480 Speaker 1: was born and actually now bears a historical marker. When 78 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:39,600 Speaker 1: Jacob was six, the family moved to Danville, Pennsylvania, where 79 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:43,479 Speaker 1: his father started working in an iron mill. Jacob completed 80 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:45,960 Speaker 1: nine years of school before going to work when he 81 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:49,200 Speaker 1: was sixteen, also at a mill, serving as the water boy. 82 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:52,000 Speaker 1: He worked his way up through various positions over the 83 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:55,200 Speaker 1: next eight years. When he was twenty, he married a 84 00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:58,960 Speaker 1: young woman named Caroline Ammerman that two of them had 85 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:02,680 Speaker 1: four children together. Coxey voted for the first time during 86 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:04,960 Speaker 1: this stage of his life in the eighteen seventy six 87 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:08,440 Speaker 1: election at the age of twenty two. Over the years, 88 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 1: he would switch political parties multiple times, and he was 89 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:13,919 Speaker 1: a member of the Greenback Party. At one point he 90 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:17,920 Speaker 1: even organized it's Danville, Pennsylvania chapter. He moved on to 91 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:20,279 Speaker 1: work with his uncle and a scrap metal business in 92 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:23,040 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy eight, and it was while on a business 93 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:25,279 Speaker 1: trip for this job in eighteen eighty one that he 94 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:28,800 Speaker 1: first visited Massillon, Ohio. He decided he would like to 95 00:05:28,839 --> 00:05:31,479 Speaker 1: move there, and that was really the end of his 96 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:34,479 Speaker 1: scrap metal career. He sold his interest in the business 97 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:37,240 Speaker 1: and his next move was to purchase a sandstone quarry 98 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:40,560 Speaker 1: in Masslin and converted into a crushing mill to process 99 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:44,080 Speaker 1: silica sand. He also purchased a farm where he would 100 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:46,960 Speaker 1: eventually start breeding horses in the eighteen eighties when he 101 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:50,680 Speaker 1: became interested in racing, and between the quarry and his 102 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:53,640 Speaker 1: fancy stock horse breeding, he was able to build a 103 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:57,880 Speaker 1: really nice living for himself. Coxey was also really interested 104 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:01,440 Speaker 1: in politics and the economy, and even before the Panic 105 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:04,599 Speaker 1: of eight three, he was aware of the problems that 106 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:08,680 Speaker 1: we're facing laborers in the US. Was this is things 107 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:10,159 Speaker 1: that he gave a great deal of thought to you, 108 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:14,040 Speaker 1: and allegedly a moment of inspiration led to the reform 109 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:18,120 Speaker 1: idea that would make him famous. Yeah, just for clarity, Like, 110 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:23,520 Speaker 1: even before the panic, there were economic downturn effects happening, 111 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:27,600 Speaker 1: and there there were labor shortages already. But the story 112 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:30,560 Speaker 1: of his inspiration goes that as he was traveling home 113 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:32,960 Speaker 1: one day, he noticed that the road that he was 114 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:36,279 Speaker 1: on was in really sorry shape. According to a write 115 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:38,960 Speaker 1: up in the Chautauquin in eight nine four, this was 116 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:41,880 Speaker 1: the result of an especially problematic mud hole in the 117 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:46,600 Speaker 1: road that hampered his progress. And after he got out 118 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,120 Speaker 1: of the mud hole and started thinking about how they 119 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:51,720 Speaker 1: really needed to fix that roadway, and they needed better 120 00:06:51,839 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 1: roadways in general, he put together the idea that the 121 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:57,679 Speaker 1: many people who were out of work could be given 122 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:01,400 Speaker 1: jobs fixing the roads throughout the stay. He started putting 123 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:06,080 Speaker 1: these ideas to paper, and he wrote the Coxie Plan 124 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:09,880 Speaker 1: for Business and Unemployment Relief, How the State of Ohio 125 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:14,520 Speaker 1: and its subdivisions can help themselves. Coxey's idea evolved into 126 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:17,320 Speaker 1: what he called his Good Roads Bill. It called for 127 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:20,520 Speaker 1: fair wages and an eight hour work day to achieve 128 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:24,280 Speaker 1: both prosperity for the common man and better public works. 129 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:27,400 Speaker 1: And the Good Roads Bill was no small potatoes in 130 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:29,720 Speaker 1: terms of its ambition and its scope. This was a 131 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:34,000 Speaker 1: five hundred million dollar plan, yeah transition from being just 132 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:37,240 Speaker 1: about Ohio over the years to being a national effort 133 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:40,000 Speaker 1: on his part. And that five million dollars that he 134 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:42,600 Speaker 1: was talking about was to come from the Treasury in 135 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:46,880 Speaker 1: the form of non interest bearing bonds. He also later 136 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:49,440 Speaker 1: on developed a second bill that ran alongside this one, 137 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:52,600 Speaker 1: and in that one, state or city improvement projects could 138 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:56,320 Speaker 1: deposit non interest bearing twenty five year bonds with the 139 00:07:56,360 --> 00:07:59,400 Speaker 1: Treasury and then get back the cash value of the 140 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:03,600 Speaker 1: bond paper currency minus one percent. And his thinking was 141 00:08:03,640 --> 00:08:06,880 Speaker 1: that that paper currency, then paid as wages to the workers, 142 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:10,240 Speaker 1: was going to reinvigorate the economy. He saw this as 143 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:13,280 Speaker 1: a benefit on a couple of different levels. One, it 144 00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:18,080 Speaker 1: would improve US infrastructure and ways that were just desperately needed. Too, 145 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:21,280 Speaker 1: it would provide much needed relief to laborers who had 146 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:25,920 Speaker 1: found themselves impoverished as the country went through an economic depression. 147 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:28,960 Speaker 1: And his rite up he noted, quote Congress takes two 148 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:32,080 Speaker 1: years to vote on anything, twenty millions of people are 149 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:35,480 Speaker 1: hungry and cannot wait two years to eat. And he 150 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:39,120 Speaker 1: started pitching this plan in its earlier versions to his 151 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:42,240 Speaker 1: local politicians as well as basically anyone who would stand 152 00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:45,840 Speaker 1: still long enough. But he did not exactly get a 153 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:48,959 Speaker 1: warm reception initially. According to that same right up in 154 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:51,560 Speaker 1: the Chautauquin that I mentioned a moment ago quote, his 155 00:08:51,679 --> 00:08:54,720 Speaker 1: neighbors dubbed him crank, and his wife secured a divorce 156 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:58,080 Speaker 1: partly on the grounds of his craze. A new wife 157 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:01,920 Speaker 1: was secured and the jeering neighbors ignored. Uh. We should 158 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:03,960 Speaker 1: be very clear that this was not the only reason 159 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:07,200 Speaker 1: he got a divorce. Uh. There was also a gambling 160 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:10,120 Speaker 1: problem that was driving a wedge into his marriage to Caroline. 161 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:14,280 Speaker 1: That gambling was part of Coxey's passionate interest in horses. 162 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:18,920 Speaker 1: So uh, sometimes people will use his interest in his 163 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:22,360 Speaker 1: bills and his efforts at labor reform as the reason 164 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:24,520 Speaker 1: his wife left him, But it's a little more complicated 165 00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:28,720 Speaker 1: than that. So Coxey wasn't entirely without interested listeners. He 166 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:31,959 Speaker 1: presented his plan to the St. Louis Populist Convention in 167 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:36,960 Speaker 1: two It was adopted into the Ohio Populist Party's platform 168 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:39,680 Speaker 1: that same year, but it really didn't get much farther 169 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:43,440 Speaker 1: than that. It wasn't until eight three, again, while the 170 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:47,320 Speaker 1: nation was really hitting this panic, that Jacob Coxey found 171 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:52,840 Speaker 1: like minded collaborators to really champion this plan alongside him. 172 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:55,760 Speaker 1: That year, at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, he met 173 00:09:55,800 --> 00:10:00,120 Speaker 1: a man named Carl Brown. Brown was on assignment from 174 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:03,640 Speaker 1: San Francisco Business Weekly as an artist and correspondent at 175 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:05,840 Speaker 1: the event. He was there to send back reports with 176 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:09,560 Speaker 1: illustrations of what was happening. He was basically like a contractor. 177 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:11,040 Speaker 1: He kind of was one of those people that worked 178 00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:13,199 Speaker 1: a lot of different jobs. He wasn't a regular reporter 179 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:16,920 Speaker 1: for the San Franisco Business Weekly, and Brown was also 180 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:19,880 Speaker 1: sent to the expo with a costume suit intended to 181 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:22,200 Speaker 1: make him look like Buffalo Bill. So that he could 182 00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:25,280 Speaker 1: be part of a living exhibit about the wild West. 183 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:27,680 Speaker 1: So he was wearing a number of different hats, both 184 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:31,440 Speaker 1: literally and figuratively. Here. Brown was a big personality. He 185 00:10:31,559 --> 00:10:34,000 Speaker 1: was a gifted speaker, he was a showman, he was 186 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:36,480 Speaker 1: a jack of all trades, and he's been described as 187 00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:40,520 Speaker 1: a labor agitator. His ideas of reform, which centered around 188 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:43,600 Speaker 1: ensuring that any able bodied person who sought work could 189 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:47,680 Speaker 1: find it, really aligned with Coxi's. His orations on labor 190 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:51,160 Speaker 1: reform had so irritated the leadership of Chicago that the 191 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:53,320 Speaker 1: mayor kicked him out of the city. He was not 192 00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:57,439 Speaker 1: a quiet, subdued man in the least. But Jacob Coxey 193 00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:00,960 Speaker 1: saw Carl Brown's potential and he saw that he could 194 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:04,000 Speaker 1: be the megaphone for the Coxie Plan. And while they 195 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:07,079 Speaker 1: sort of are often described as an odd couple, as partners, 196 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:10,720 Speaker 1: Brown and Coxey aligned on their shared vision that something 197 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:13,520 Speaker 1: big and drastic had to be done to get the 198 00:11:13,559 --> 00:11:17,520 Speaker 1: country back on track. Carl came with some quirks, though. 199 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:21,199 Speaker 1: He believed and told anyone who would listen that Coxey 200 00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:25,600 Speaker 1: was the reincarnation of Andrew Jackson. Brown had some interesting 201 00:11:25,679 --> 00:11:28,880 Speaker 1: views religiously speaking, he thought that he had absorbed his 202 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:31,720 Speaker 1: wife's soul into his own as he sat at her deathbed. 203 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:34,560 Speaker 1: He also thought that he had many others that they 204 00:11:34,559 --> 00:11:37,400 Speaker 1: eventually rallied to their cause, had absorbed the soul of 205 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:41,079 Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, and that that was what was driving their efforts, 206 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:44,240 Speaker 1: and that Jacob Coxey had absorbed a significant amount of 207 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:47,320 Speaker 1: that soul. He also didn't stop wearing that buffalo bill 208 00:11:47,400 --> 00:11:49,840 Speaker 1: costume when the expo ended, and said he just made 209 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:54,440 Speaker 1: it part of his personal brand. He is really a 210 00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:59,040 Speaker 1: fascinating character. As for Jacob Coxey's views of all of this, 211 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:02,840 Speaker 1: reincarnate should talk. One reporter at the time wrote, quote, 212 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:06,520 Speaker 1: Coxey's religious views did not prevent his ready conversion to 213 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:11,160 Speaker 1: Brown's abortive theosophy. He does not claim any supernatural wisdom 214 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:15,080 Speaker 1: as Brown does, but modestly poses as the living representation 215 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:19,079 Speaker 1: of Christ because Brown says so. Though he was an eccentric, 216 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:22,320 Speaker 1: Carl Brown was crucial to the growth of Coxey's support base. 217 00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:26,080 Speaker 1: He was really good at communicating with people and gaining 218 00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:29,800 Speaker 1: their trust. Carl's orations and the desperation of the men 219 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:32,520 Speaker 1: that they were speaking to. That was a powerful combination. 220 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:36,560 Speaker 1: Slowly they garnered up pretty significant following, and at this 221 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:40,080 Speaker 1: point Coxey was more passionate about his plan than ever. 222 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:43,000 Speaker 1: He was a wealthy man, but his own businesses had 223 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:45,920 Speaker 1: struggled due to the panic. He had to sell his 224 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:50,280 Speaker 1: horse farm and his crushing mill was struggling. On December seven, 225 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:54,120 Speaker 1: Brown and Coxey formed the J. S. Coxey Good Roads 226 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:58,840 Speaker 1: Association of the US. Brown was the organization's secretary and 227 00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:02,600 Speaker 1: Jacob Coxey was, of course it's president. In Coxey's eyes, 228 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:04,920 Speaker 1: one of the villains and all this was the press. 229 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:07,880 Speaker 1: He felt that all the reporting about a currency crisis 230 00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:11,319 Speaker 1: had actually caused some of the worst problems as panicked 231 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:15,160 Speaker 1: readers started to hoard gold. His relationship with the press 232 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:19,400 Speaker 1: only became more contentious as his activism became more high profile. 233 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:22,440 Speaker 1: That's something we'll get back to you shortly. Yeah, it's 234 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:25,080 Speaker 1: interesting and you'll you'll see it as we talk about it. 235 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:27,880 Speaker 1: But even though Coxey has this sort of like dim 236 00:13:27,960 --> 00:13:30,120 Speaker 1: view of the press and what they have done at 237 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:33,400 Speaker 1: various points, it's really Carl Brown that kind of gets 238 00:13:33,440 --> 00:13:36,959 Speaker 1: into it with them. Just a few months after its founding, 239 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:41,679 Speaker 1: the Good Roads Association was making very real progress. Senator 240 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:45,320 Speaker 1: William a Peffer, a populist from Kansas, was willing to 241 00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:49,400 Speaker 1: introduce Coxey's two bills in Congress. But this idea of 242 00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:52,000 Speaker 1: getting the Federal Reserve to print money to fix the 243 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:56,200 Speaker 1: economy didn't go over all that well. But Coxie and 244 00:13:56,240 --> 00:14:00,200 Speaker 1: Brown were just undeterred. They attatched a plan early year 245 00:14:00,240 --> 00:14:03,080 Speaker 1: in the year that was intended to underscore their idea 246 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:05,640 Speaker 1: and make it clear to elected officials just how much 247 00:14:05,679 --> 00:14:09,000 Speaker 1: support Coxey's plan had among the working men of the country, 248 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:13,040 Speaker 1: who were voters who were unable to find jobs. Coxie 249 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:15,880 Speaker 1: and Brown, who was likely the architect of this whole idea, 250 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:20,480 Speaker 1: organized a march on Washington. This is an unemployment protest 251 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:23,120 Speaker 1: that would be too big to be ignored. And before 252 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:26,040 Speaker 1: we dig into how that all plays out, let's pause 253 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:36,160 Speaker 1: for a quick sponsor break. So this march that we 254 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:39,360 Speaker 1: mentioned before the break was conceived as what Coxy and 255 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:43,760 Speaker 1: Brown called a petition in boots. They intended to gather 256 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:47,160 Speaker 1: supporters as they traveled with the hopes of reaching Washington 257 00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:50,320 Speaker 1: with a huge throng of men. The men they had 258 00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:53,440 Speaker 1: won over while still in Ohio started their journey in 259 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:59,080 Speaker 1: Massilon on March, which was Easter Sunday. The residents were 260 00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:02,240 Speaker 1: not all that in used about being a convergence point 261 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:04,280 Speaker 1: for this rally. A lot of them believed that the 262 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:08,720 Speaker 1: participants and Coxy's protest march were just itinerant troublemakers and 263 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:10,320 Speaker 1: they wanted them to hurry up and get out of 264 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:14,600 Speaker 1: town quickly. This perception would follow them throughout the whole trip. 265 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:17,360 Speaker 1: A lot of write ups referred to Coxy's men as 266 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:21,280 Speaker 1: just a band of tramps. There were also always people 267 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:24,840 Speaker 1: who were suspicious that they would bring lawlessness and violence 268 00:15:24,880 --> 00:15:27,720 Speaker 1: as they moved through the country. Yeah, they definitely got 269 00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:30,480 Speaker 1: like a duality reception in most places, where some people 270 00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:34,600 Speaker 1: were really genuinely enthusiastic about them and what they were 271 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:36,880 Speaker 1: trying to do, and others were like, uh, keep those 272 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:40,200 Speaker 1: troublemakers out of our town. In the beginning, there were 273 00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:43,360 Speaker 1: an estimated fifty to one participants in the march. That 274 00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:46,920 Speaker 1: number varies depending on your source, and there were also 275 00:15:47,040 --> 00:15:49,600 Speaker 1: forty three reporters that marched with them, but they were 276 00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:53,080 Speaker 1: of course not counted among their numbers. These reporters were 277 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:56,400 Speaker 1: there on assignment because this story was sensational, and in 278 00:15:56,560 --> 00:16:00,920 Speaker 1: chasing that sensationalism, their coverage was not always act you're it. 279 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:03,920 Speaker 1: It also sometimes made fun of the whole effort. But 280 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:07,040 Speaker 1: the important thing to Jacob Coxey was at his march 281 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:10,800 Speaker 1: was getting national coverage. As I was looking for a 282 00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:13,720 Speaker 1: picture to use on our social media and stuff with this, 283 00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:17,960 Speaker 1: I found a lot of editorial cartoons satirizing Coxey in 284 00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:21,080 Speaker 1: his march. The side of the march had been a show. 285 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:24,760 Speaker 1: Coxy's wife, Henrietta Jones Coxey, and their newborn son were 286 00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:27,520 Speaker 1: at the front of the parade. Coxie had named this 287 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:31,200 Speaker 1: baby Legal Tender to show his commitment to legal tender 288 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:35,240 Speaker 1: currency as a revitalizing force for the nation. So there 289 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:38,440 Speaker 1: are some accounts that Henrietta and the baby marched with 290 00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:41,160 Speaker 1: the group. That's actually a little misleading. They were part 291 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:43,320 Speaker 1: of the procession as it was headed out of town, 292 00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:46,160 Speaker 1: but they didn't stay with the march. They arranged to 293 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:48,520 Speaker 1: meet back up with Coxey at the destination of the 294 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:52,000 Speaker 1: nation's capital. But still quite a trip with a five 295 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:56,200 Speaker 1: week old baby, though yeah, uh, not an awesome thing 296 00:16:56,240 --> 00:16:59,840 Speaker 1: to do with the best modern conveniences and health standards, 297 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:04,840 Speaker 1: really unwise. In the eight nineties, uh Brown had set 298 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:07,040 Speaker 1: up the structure of this whole march. He's often really 299 00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:09,840 Speaker 1: really cited as being like the guy who is running 300 00:17:09,840 --> 00:17:12,480 Speaker 1: the actual march, And as we said, he was a showman. 301 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:15,919 Speaker 1: He dubbed the march the common Wheel of Christ. He 302 00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:18,800 Speaker 1: made banners and fabric badges for the men to wear, 303 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:21,960 Speaker 1: all of which read things like peace on earth, goodwill 304 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:26,000 Speaker 1: toward men, but death to interest on bonds. And these 305 00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:29,320 Speaker 1: banners all had a mix of religious symbolism and economic 306 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:32,560 Speaker 1: commentary in the art I've often I've seen them described 307 00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:36,000 Speaker 1: in a number of sources as being really confusing because 308 00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:38,640 Speaker 1: he was trying to get a lot of different ideas 309 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:41,959 Speaker 1: and ideologies represented in them, like his religious views as 310 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:44,520 Speaker 1: well as his political views, as well as issues of 311 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:47,640 Speaker 1: the economy, and kind of blending them together, leaving some 312 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:51,639 Speaker 1: onlookers to kind of scratch their heads. Brown continued to 313 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:55,280 Speaker 1: wear that buffalo bill costume, and Coxey wore a Union 314 00:17:55,400 --> 00:18:00,240 Speaker 1: Army uniform. Brown also may have cost Coxy a lot 315 00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:03,359 Speaker 1: of money. It was reported that the bill for printing 316 00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:07,119 Speaker 1: up recruitment flyers had come to a whopping two thousand dollars. 317 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:12,000 Speaker 1: That's two thousand dollars. On top of that, Coxy was 318 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:14,760 Speaker 1: footing the bill for some of the camp supplies, although 319 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:17,520 Speaker 1: they did take donations to cover most of their needs, 320 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:21,439 Speaker 1: as particularly being food. Food turned out to be an 321 00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:24,679 Speaker 1: ongoing problem as the march played out, because in a recession, 322 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:28,560 Speaker 1: donations could be pretty sparse. The men really weren't ever 323 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:31,400 Speaker 1: getting enough to eat. Yeah, there are lots of descriptions 324 00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:35,399 Speaker 1: of how like in some towns, you know, volunteers and 325 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:37,280 Speaker 1: people that wanted to welcome them would come and they 326 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:41,399 Speaker 1: would have brought food and prepared like these huge meals, 327 00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:43,919 Speaker 1: but like there was never enough to go around, and 328 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:45,800 Speaker 1: so it was like, well, you might get soup one 329 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:48,080 Speaker 1: day and only bread the next, or you might only 330 00:18:48,119 --> 00:18:51,000 Speaker 1: get two meals this day and one meal this day. 331 00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:54,119 Speaker 1: It just was not consistent. And when you think about 332 00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:56,600 Speaker 1: how much they were walking in any given day, you 333 00:18:56,640 --> 00:19:00,200 Speaker 1: realized that this was a very, very difficult undertake ging 334 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:04,280 Speaker 1: because of all the press coverage, though more groups had 335 00:19:04,320 --> 00:19:07,280 Speaker 1: started marching from all over the country, some as far 336 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:10,080 Speaker 1: as California in the hopes of joining what had at 337 00:19:10,119 --> 00:19:13,359 Speaker 1: this point colloquially come to be known as Coxey's Army. 338 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:16,200 Speaker 1: Some of this coverage had actually started way back in January, 339 00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:18,960 Speaker 1: when Coxey and Brown announced that they were planning this 340 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:22,720 Speaker 1: uh And to be very very clear, the reason people 341 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:24,720 Speaker 1: were so willing to do this was because there was 342 00:19:24,760 --> 00:19:27,520 Speaker 1: a lot of desperation throughout the country at this time. 343 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:30,320 Speaker 1: This was only the second year of what would be 344 00:19:30,359 --> 00:19:34,159 Speaker 1: a four year recession, and families were going hungry and 345 00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:37,080 Speaker 1: there was no relief on the horizon. So for a 346 00:19:37,119 --> 00:19:39,760 Speaker 1: lot of men, this seemed like the only way that 347 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:42,040 Speaker 1: they were ever going to make their voices truly heard 348 00:19:42,119 --> 00:19:46,240 Speaker 1: by people with power and hopefully catalyze an improvement in 349 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:50,879 Speaker 1: their family's quality of life. Some of them traveled in wagons, 350 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:54,480 Speaker 1: some on horses, some were simply on foot, but all 351 00:19:54,520 --> 00:19:56,679 Speaker 1: of them had the intent that they were going to 352 00:19:56,720 --> 00:20:00,200 Speaker 1: meet up with Coxey and converge on Washington. So while 353 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:03,760 Speaker 1: there were occasional deserters who probably joined up for the 354 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:06,679 Speaker 1: promise of free meals along the way, maybe even just 355 00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:09,480 Speaker 1: the security of traveling with a group, the spots that 356 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:11,760 Speaker 1: they left filled in behind them is the army kept 357 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:15,720 Speaker 1: moving through more towns. Increasingly it was made up entirely 358 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:18,280 Speaker 1: of men who were just tired of waiting for better 359 00:20:18,359 --> 00:20:20,639 Speaker 1: times and they wanted to take some kind of action. 360 00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:24,800 Speaker 1: And as they traveled, the press became more and more 361 00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:28,720 Speaker 1: critical of this whole operation. They started writing commentary about 362 00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:32,040 Speaker 1: how Brown's cowboy gear was an affectation, and then they 363 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:34,719 Speaker 1: started talking about how dirty his suit and he was, 364 00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:38,159 Speaker 1: and they started calling him old greasy, which he enjoyed 365 00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:42,119 Speaker 1: about as much as you might expect. The press characterization 366 00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:45,639 Speaker 1: of the rest of the marchers similarly degraded over time. 367 00:20:46,119 --> 00:20:48,600 Speaker 1: While some of the accounts in the early days described 368 00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:53,199 Speaker 1: the participants as enthusiastic and idealistic, that shifted soon they 369 00:20:53,200 --> 00:20:57,920 Speaker 1: were referring to the protesters as an unwashed army. For example, 370 00:20:57,960 --> 00:20:59,960 Speaker 1: there's one early article at the start of them, mark 371 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:03,440 Speaker 1: Jin massilin where the New York Times reported quote, most 372 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:06,520 Speaker 1: of those now here are hard looking people, but up 373 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:09,080 Speaker 1: to the present time, they have shown no disposition to 374 00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:13,320 Speaker 1: be unruly. Coxie and his lieutenants are elated and declared 375 00:21:13,359 --> 00:21:15,440 Speaker 1: that they will have ten thousand men in line when 376 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:18,600 Speaker 1: the word forward is given. But in a story from 377 00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:21,560 Speaker 1: mid April, a few weeks into the march, the Times 378 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:25,760 Speaker 1: first outlined how the Fife core of Coxey's army traded 379 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:29,280 Speaker 1: their instruments for beer and then got arrested. The right 380 00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:32,520 Speaker 1: up of the incident describes Coxie handling the situation well, 381 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 1: explaining that there would be no tolerance for that kind 382 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:38,320 Speaker 1: of behavior and that the point of their march was 383 00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:41,440 Speaker 1: much more important than getting drunk, But then it completely 384 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:44,000 Speaker 1: discredits him at the end, saying that he was made 385 00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:46,480 Speaker 1: happy when he met a fortune teller on their journey 386 00:21:46,840 --> 00:21:49,400 Speaker 1: who told him that he would live to be a hundred. Yeah. 387 00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:53,280 Speaker 1: It's when you read the flow of that particular brief article, 388 00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:55,439 Speaker 1: it's the weirdest thing, because it really is like this 389 00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:58,560 Speaker 1: great portrait of like, Wow, he's really a good leader, 390 00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:00,960 Speaker 1: Like he explains to them like why they are doing 391 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:03,399 Speaker 1: what they are doing and reminds them of the gravity 392 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:05,400 Speaker 1: of this effort. And then they're like, oh, and then 393 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:07,400 Speaker 1: he got all into a fortune teller for a little while. 394 00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:12,960 Speaker 1: It's like, oh, eventually Carl Brown got really tired of 395 00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:15,880 Speaker 1: all these jobs from reporters and he started calling them 396 00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:20,119 Speaker 1: argus eyed demons of hell. This actually quite delighted the press. 397 00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:23,159 Speaker 1: They started a little club amongst themselves that they dubbed 398 00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:27,040 Speaker 1: the argus Side Demons, and this club even had elected officers. 399 00:22:27,119 --> 00:22:29,800 Speaker 1: But really it was mostly just about like finding a 400 00:22:29,800 --> 00:22:32,600 Speaker 1: good watering hole and drinking wherever they stopped for the night. 401 00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:35,840 Speaker 1: But even without the press commentary, the group was not 402 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:39,520 Speaker 1: helping its own reputation because of the hard scrabbled nature 403 00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:42,280 Speaker 1: of their day to day survival. When Coxie and his 404 00:22:42,359 --> 00:22:45,159 Speaker 1: men arrived in a town, they could basically watch the 405 00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:47,719 Speaker 1: faces of the people who greeted them fall as they 406 00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:52,080 Speaker 1: saw how ragged everyone looked. The movement sounded so robust 407 00:22:52,119 --> 00:22:55,080 Speaker 1: on paper, but in person it was often really disappointing, 408 00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:59,000 Speaker 1: and men who had planned to join Coxy sometimes opted 409 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:01,280 Speaker 1: out of that plan one they saw how rough things 410 00:23:01,359 --> 00:23:05,080 Speaker 1: had become. When Coxey's army finally arrived in Washington, d C. 411 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:07,920 Speaker 1: On May first, that was after thirty five days of walking, 412 00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:12,080 Speaker 1: it had quintupled in size, at least by some counts. 413 00:23:12,119 --> 00:23:14,400 Speaker 1: There are others that put it closer to being four 414 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:18,600 Speaker 1: hundred men versus five hundred others listed as thousands, But 415 00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:21,720 Speaker 1: this gets a little bit unclear because there were multiple 416 00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:24,679 Speaker 1: groups that were starting to come together, so the numbers 417 00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:28,760 Speaker 1: shift really quickly and like in big chunks, depending on 418 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:32,720 Speaker 1: how any given reporter defined Coxey's group, whether it was 419 00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:36,320 Speaker 1: only counting those that traveled with him and Brown specifically 420 00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:39,679 Speaker 1: or whether other groups that joined up towards the end 421 00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:42,520 Speaker 1: should be part of that count. But it quickly got 422 00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:45,320 Speaker 1: to be really pointless to try to count the newcomers anyway, 423 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:48,560 Speaker 1: as thousands of thousands of locals had also shown up 424 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:51,159 Speaker 1: for the march, some to support it and some just 425 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:53,320 Speaker 1: to watch the spectacle of it. But they were kind 426 00:23:53,359 --> 00:23:56,960 Speaker 1: of all traveling in this huge throng together. Coxey really 427 00:23:57,000 --> 00:23:59,320 Speaker 1: hoped that he and his marchers would be able to 428 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:04,200 Speaker 1: enact rapid change. After all, he had the bill written 429 00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:06,639 Speaker 1: and ready to go for Congress, and it read, in 430 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:09,640 Speaker 1: part quote, be it enacted by the Senate and House 431 00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:13,280 Speaker 1: of Representatives in Congress assembled, that the Secretary of the 432 00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:17,200 Speaker 1: Treasury of the United States is hereby authorized and instructed 433 00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:20,639 Speaker 1: to have engraved and printed immediately after the passage of 434 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:24,480 Speaker 1: this bill, five million dollars of treasury notes, a legal 435 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:28,080 Speaker 1: tender for all debts public and private. Said notes to 436 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:31,440 Speaker 1: be in denominations of one dollar, two dollars, five dollars, 437 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:34,159 Speaker 1: and ten dollars, and to be placed in a fund 438 00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:37,719 Speaker 1: to be known as the General County Road Fund System 439 00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:41,000 Speaker 1: of the United States, and to be expended solely for 440 00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:44,880 Speaker 1: said purpose. Mami Coxey, who was jacobs seventeen year old 441 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:48,359 Speaker 1: daughter from a previous marriage, joined this procession at some 442 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:51,640 Speaker 1: point before it arrived in Washington, and when they approached 443 00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:54,560 Speaker 1: the Capitol Building, she was at the front of the parade, 444 00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:57,800 Speaker 1: dressed as the Goddess of Peace, all in white, and 445 00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:00,800 Speaker 1: she wrote a white Arabian horse that was from Coxey's 446 00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:04,560 Speaker 1: farm like she was intended to be a visual harbinger 447 00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:08,639 Speaker 1: of change, but maybe he had a primary admirer, and 448 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:11,439 Speaker 1: Carl Brown, who said of the young woman quote, I 449 00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:13,760 Speaker 1: thought that she was the most beautiful site I had 450 00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:17,560 Speaker 1: ever beheld. So they had made it. Coxie and Brown 451 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:20,520 Speaker 1: had led their bands at Washington. They were right there, 452 00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:23,160 Speaker 1: ready to demand a jobs buill that they believed would 453 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:25,680 Speaker 1: help get the lives of so many Americans back on track. 454 00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:29,360 Speaker 1: But the end of Coxey's march for reforms that would 455 00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:32,320 Speaker 1: reinvigorate the working class in the economy was a bit 456 00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:35,160 Speaker 1: of a letdown. And we're going to talk about their 457 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:38,200 Speaker 1: arrival at the Capitol Building and what happened there after. 458 00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:49,320 Speaker 1: We first take a quick sponsor break. So when he 459 00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:52,240 Speaker 1: and all of his followers had arrived in Washington, D. C. 460 00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:56,320 Speaker 1: Jacob Coxey had applied for and received a parade permit. 461 00:25:57,040 --> 00:25:59,280 Speaker 1: He had also applied for a permit to speak on 462 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:03,600 Speaker 1: the steps of the Capital. That permit was denied. And really, 463 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:07,680 Speaker 1: if Jacob Coxey had been paying attention and actually accepting 464 00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:11,240 Speaker 1: certain truths, he probably would have seen that coming. As 465 00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:15,480 Speaker 1: early as March. The day before the march started, reports 466 00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:18,320 Speaker 1: thought of Washington had made clear that this common wheel 467 00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:21,880 Speaker 1: or army was not going to be welcomed by lawmakers. 468 00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:24,840 Speaker 1: A report from Washington that ran in the New York 469 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:28,880 Speaker 1: Times from March read quote, nothing but ridicule is heard 470 00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:32,360 Speaker 1: in regard to the Coxy movement among well informed persons. 471 00:26:32,359 --> 00:26:36,240 Speaker 1: Here there is not the remotest prospect of any Congressional 472 00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:39,600 Speaker 1: action to grant a permit for any mob to assemble 473 00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:43,359 Speaker 1: on the Capitol grounds in violation of a specific Act 474 00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:46,720 Speaker 1: of Congress. So as they got up to the Capitol, 475 00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:49,879 Speaker 1: and Coxie and Brown moved through the crowd of onlookers 476 00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:52,439 Speaker 1: and police in d C. As the parade got to 477 00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:57,000 Speaker 1: their destination, the scene quickly turned frantic. They had been 478 00:26:57,000 --> 00:26:59,919 Speaker 1: headed for the steps that was off limits, and the 479 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:03,800 Speaker 1: police were watching Brown, who, of course in this uh 480 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:07,480 Speaker 1: nutty garb and was very large man stood out in 481 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:09,960 Speaker 1: any crowd, so he was pursued by police. He was 482 00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:14,520 Speaker 1: tackled and beaten. A chant of Coxey Coxie started among 483 00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:19,000 Speaker 1: the thousands of spectators and supporters. The police, realizing they 484 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:22,479 Speaker 1: had no control over the situation, panicked, and they also 485 00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:26,560 Speaker 1: turned on bystanders. They swung their clubs without regard for 486 00:27:26,600 --> 00:27:30,480 Speaker 1: who they were striking. After about fifteen minutes of mayhem, 487 00:27:30,560 --> 00:27:33,400 Speaker 1: it was over and no speeches had been given. The 488 00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:36,920 Speaker 1: headlines the next day read Coxie driven from the Capitol, 489 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:41,080 Speaker 1: not allowed to deliver his harangue. That same story often 490 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:43,840 Speaker 1: ran with another subheader that indicated that Coxey had not 491 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:47,400 Speaker 1: even been arrested, but he and several of his associates 492 00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:51,840 Speaker 1: were in fact arrested, and they did face charges. Jacob Coxey, 493 00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:56,000 Speaker 1: Carl Brown, and Christopher Columbus Jones were all found guilty 494 00:27:56,040 --> 00:27:59,880 Speaker 1: of carrying illegal banners onto capital grounds. They were sent 495 00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:03,600 Speaker 1: tense to twenty days in jail a week after the rally. 496 00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:05,800 Speaker 1: They also had to pay a fine of five dollars 497 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:08,600 Speaker 1: each for trespassing on the grass. Yeah, that was one 498 00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:12,000 Speaker 1: of one of those things. It was off limits. While 499 00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:15,320 Speaker 1: the three movement leaders, Christopher Columbus Jones had come in 500 00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:18,679 Speaker 1: later and kind of served in a capacity of of 501 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:22,199 Speaker 1: wrangling some of the people on the march while they 502 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:25,160 Speaker 1: were serving out their jail term. The men who had 503 00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:28,679 Speaker 1: followed them to Washington did not all disperse. They still 504 00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:32,000 Speaker 1: wanted to advocate for Coxe's plan, so they had made 505 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:34,880 Speaker 1: a camp at Bladensburg, Maryland, and they waited the three 506 00:28:34,920 --> 00:28:37,920 Speaker 1: weeks out. But most of them at that point had 507 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:40,680 Speaker 1: moved on. And while there really were some efforts to 508 00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:44,360 Speaker 1: keep the protest in the movement going, including a second 509 00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:48,120 Speaker 1: smaller protest in which Carl Brown allegedly appeared in drag 510 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:51,320 Speaker 1: as the Goddess of Liberty, this whole thing was really 511 00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:54,959 Speaker 1: over though. By mid July even the most ardent supporters 512 00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:59,000 Speaker 1: and stragglers had moved on. After the March, Jacob Coxey 513 00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:02,880 Speaker 1: had stayed, how fly, involved in politics. He also expanded 514 00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:06,080 Speaker 1: his business and bought a second quarry in nineteen fourteen 515 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:10,520 Speaker 1: in Dundee, Ohio. He ran for public office eleven times 516 00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:15,440 Speaker 1: for various positions. He was elected mayor of Massillon, Ohio 517 00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:19,000 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty one. This was his only election win, 518 00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:22,560 Speaker 1: and his time in office went pretty poorly. He also 519 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:26,200 Speaker 1: spearheaded a second march on Washington in nineteen fourteen, once 520 00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:29,640 Speaker 1: again championing the cause of laborers, and he made it 521 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:31,920 Speaker 1: to the Capitol and he addressed a small group of 522 00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:35,680 Speaker 1: protesters from the steps. He wasn't arrested that time, but 523 00:29:35,800 --> 00:29:38,520 Speaker 1: he also didn't have much press coverage, and not many 524 00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:41,040 Speaker 1: people really seemed to care about what he was doing. 525 00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:44,480 Speaker 1: Although Coxey had been ridiculed for his ideas by a 526 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:47,280 Speaker 1: lot of people, a lot of those same concepts were 527 00:29:47,320 --> 00:29:51,080 Speaker 1: part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, including the 528 00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:54,400 Speaker 1: make work projects of the nineteen thirties. On the fiftieth 529 00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:57,800 Speaker 1: anniversary of the original March on the Capitol, Jacob Coxey 530 00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:00,640 Speaker 1: was invited and finally able to get of the speech 531 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:04,640 Speaker 1: on the Capitol Steps that he had planned for. Tracy 532 00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:06,200 Speaker 1: and I are going to take turns reading it because 533 00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:08,560 Speaker 1: it's quite long, and this is an abridged version, but 534 00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:12,680 Speaker 1: it begins the Constitution of the United States guarantees to 535 00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:16,480 Speaker 1: all citizens the right to peaceably assemble and petition for 536 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:20,000 Speaker 1: redress of grievances, and furthermore declares that the right of 537 00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:23,880 Speaker 1: free speech shall not be abridged. We stand here today 538 00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:28,040 Speaker 1: to test these guarantees of our Constitution. Here, rather than 539 00:30:28,080 --> 00:30:30,680 Speaker 1: at any other spot on the continent. It is fitting 540 00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:33,960 Speaker 1: that we should come to mourn over our dead liberties, 541 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:37,640 Speaker 1: and by our protest aroused the imperiled nation to such action. 542 00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:42,920 Speaker 1: I shall rescue the Constitution and resurrect our liberties. Upon 543 00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:46,160 Speaker 1: these steps where we stand has been spread a carpet 544 00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:49,440 Speaker 1: for the royal feat of a foreign princess. Up these 545 00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:53,600 Speaker 1: steps the lobbyists of trusts and corporations have passed unchallenged 546 00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:56,680 Speaker 1: on their way to committee rooms, access to which we, 547 00:30:56,960 --> 00:31:00,840 Speaker 1: the representatives of the toiling wealth producers, have been denied. 548 00:31:01,520 --> 00:31:04,760 Speaker 1: We stand here today on behalf of millions of toilers, 549 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:08,040 Speaker 1: whose petitions have been buried in committee rooms, and whose 550 00:31:08,040 --> 00:31:12,160 Speaker 1: opportunities for honest, remunerative, productive labor have been taken from 551 00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:17,840 Speaker 1: them by unjust legislation which protects idlers, speculators, and gamblers. 552 00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:21,120 Speaker 1: We come to remind the Congress here assembled of the 553 00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:24,520 Speaker 1: declaration of a United States senator quote that for a 554 00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:27,240 Speaker 1: quarter of a century the rich have been growing richer, 555 00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:30,240 Speaker 1: the poor poorer, and that by the close of the 556 00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:33,200 Speaker 1: present century, the middle class will have disappeared. As the 557 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:37,640 Speaker 1: struggle for existence becomes fierce and relentless. We are here 558 00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:41,200 Speaker 1: to petition for legislation which will furnish employment for every 559 00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:44,320 Speaker 1: man able and willing to work. We are engaged in 560 00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:47,440 Speaker 1: a bitter and cruel war with the enemies of all mankind, 561 00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:51,280 Speaker 1: a war with hunger, wretchedness, and despair. And we ask 562 00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:54,720 Speaker 1: Congress to heed our petitions and issue for the nation's 563 00:31:54,760 --> 00:31:57,960 Speaker 1: good a sufficient volume of the same kind of money 564 00:31:58,040 --> 00:32:00,760 Speaker 1: which carried the country through one off full war and 565 00:32:00,800 --> 00:32:03,680 Speaker 1: saved the life of the nation. We have come here, 566 00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:09,040 Speaker 1: through toil and weary marches, through storms and tempests, over mountains, 567 00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:12,320 Speaker 1: and amid the trials of poverty and distress, to lay 568 00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:15,720 Speaker 1: our grievances at the doors of our national legislature, and 569 00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:18,560 Speaker 1: ask them, in the name of Him whose banners we bear, 570 00:32:18,960 --> 00:32:21,280 Speaker 1: in the name of him who plead for the poor 571 00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:23,920 Speaker 1: and the oppressed, that they should heed the voice of 572 00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:26,800 Speaker 1: despair and distress that is now coming up from every 573 00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:30,080 Speaker 1: section of our country. That they should consider the conditions 574 00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:32,960 Speaker 1: of the starving unemployed of our land and enact such 575 00:32:33,080 --> 00:32:36,400 Speaker 1: laws as will give them employment, bring happier conditions to 576 00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:39,840 Speaker 1: the people, and the smile of contentment to our citizens. 577 00:32:40,560 --> 00:32:44,600 Speaker 1: In his later years, Coxie continued to pursue new business 578 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:48,640 Speaker 1: endeavors as well as politics. He sold a mild laxative 579 00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:52,280 Speaker 1: called Coxilax, which he swore with the source of his longevity. 580 00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:56,080 Speaker 1: He also sold copper and zinc disks to wear inside 581 00:32:56,080 --> 00:32:59,240 Speaker 1: of shoes we're supposed to help with aches and pains, 582 00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:01,960 Speaker 1: and he gave instructions out to people who wanted to 583 00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:05,920 Speaker 1: make their own. Incidentally, Carl Brown and Maymie Coxey did 584 00:33:06,040 --> 00:33:09,920 Speaker 1: become a couple uh They were married in Eve. That 585 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:13,120 Speaker 1: was much to Jacob Coxey's chagrin. The couple had a 586 00:33:13,160 --> 00:33:17,920 Speaker 1: son together, but that marriage did not last. Jacob's second wife, Henrietta, 587 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:22,680 Speaker 1: died on January thirteenth, nineteen fifty one, after their child 588 00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:25,840 Speaker 1: legal Tender, who only lived to be seven. The couple 589 00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:29,240 Speaker 1: had three other children. They were Jacob Jr. David, and Ruth. 590 00:33:29,880 --> 00:33:33,760 Speaker 1: After Henrietta's death, Jacob Coxey's own health went downhill pretty quickly. 591 00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:37,720 Speaker 1: He had a stroke on May eighteenth, nineteen fifty one. 592 00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:40,560 Speaker 1: He had lived only four months longer than his wife did. 593 00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:46,080 Speaker 1: He is um one of those eccentric and marvelous characters 594 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:49,560 Speaker 1: in histories that we don't really get all that much 595 00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:54,680 Speaker 1: information out about normally, but I both love his idealism 596 00:33:54,680 --> 00:33:59,480 Speaker 1: and shake my head and go, oh, ma'am, do you 597 00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:03,000 Speaker 1: have some listener mail for us? I do, um. I 598 00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:05,320 Speaker 1: have a couple of pieces. The first is from our 599 00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:08,080 Speaker 1: listener Naomi, who writes hello. In a recent podcast. The 600 00:34:08,160 --> 00:34:10,279 Speaker 1: letter was read where a listener thanks Tracy for her 601 00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:13,120 Speaker 1: contribution to a BBC show. It was described like a 602 00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:15,280 Speaker 1: game of Thrones, of sort. I was listening in traffic 603 00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:17,120 Speaker 1: and forgot the name. I would love to check it out, 604 00:34:17,160 --> 00:34:20,520 Speaker 1: please help. That was actually mem but the I wanted 605 00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:21,880 Speaker 1: to read this because I want to make sure she 606 00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:23,600 Speaker 1: knows about it in case she wants to hear it. 607 00:34:23,600 --> 00:34:25,439 Speaker 1: Because it is a really good show. That is called 608 00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:29,200 Speaker 1: Tu Mon Bay Tu m A n b A y 609 00:34:29,640 --> 00:34:32,359 Speaker 1: Um by John Dryden, and it's wonderful. You can find it, 610 00:34:32,560 --> 00:34:35,960 Speaker 1: uh like our show everywhere you get podcasts. Wanted to 611 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:38,120 Speaker 1: make sure I touched on that. Our other one is 612 00:34:38,160 --> 00:34:40,719 Speaker 1: from our listeners Cynthia, and it is exciting to me, 613 00:34:42,080 --> 00:34:45,000 Speaker 1: she writes. In decluttering my husband's stuff, I found this 614 00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:47,480 Speaker 1: pamphlet that his mother had kept, and I thought of you. 615 00:34:47,680 --> 00:34:49,239 Speaker 1: I would be happy to mail it to you. If 616 00:34:49,239 --> 00:34:52,320 Speaker 1: you send me an address that is Cynthia. This pamphlet 617 00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:55,239 Speaker 1: is called how to Buy a School Dress and it 618 00:34:55,440 --> 00:34:58,440 Speaker 1: is I'm not sure what year it's from the style 619 00:34:58,560 --> 00:35:01,680 Speaker 1: I would guess early fifty ease, and it talks about 620 00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:04,880 Speaker 1: how you should think about your clothes as you purchased 621 00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:07,880 Speaker 1: them for the school year. I think this is some 622 00:35:08,040 --> 00:35:11,759 Speaker 1: charming business and I super duper want it, uh And 623 00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:13,960 Speaker 1: I assure you it will be in a place of 624 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:16,880 Speaker 1: love and probably framed and hanging on my wall. So, Cynthia, 625 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:22,160 Speaker 1: I am sending you an address. UM. If you would 626 00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:24,440 Speaker 1: like to write to us, you should absolutely do that. 627 00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:27,000 Speaker 1: You can do that at History Podcast at iHeart radio 628 00:35:27,080 --> 00:35:29,400 Speaker 1: dot com. You can also find us pretty much everywhere 629 00:35:29,440 --> 00:35:31,640 Speaker 1: on social media is Missed in History And if you 630 00:35:31,640 --> 00:35:33,719 Speaker 1: would like to subscribe to the podcast or two un 631 00:35:33,800 --> 00:35:35,640 Speaker 1: Bay or any other show you like, you can do 632 00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:38,480 Speaker 1: that on the I heart Radio app, at Apple Podcasts, 633 00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:45,759 Speaker 1: or wherever it is you listen. Stuff you Missed in 634 00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:48,560 Speaker 1: History Class is a production of I heart Radio. For 635 00:35:48,640 --> 00:35:51,959 Speaker 1: more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 636 00:35:52,040 --> 00:35:55,240 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.