Coxey's Army
The 1894 March of the Unemployed to Washington D.C.
Mar 16, 2009 William L. Wunder
As the Depression of 1893 took hold, successful self-made businessman Jacob Coxey notice two things: many workers were idled, and, through his travels of the midwest, the roads were terrible. To kill two birds with one stone, Coxey proposed a federal government investment plan to improve roads that would employ thousands. The $500 million program would be funded by non-interest-bearing bonds.
Carl Browne and the Great Unknown
The plan was pitched in the House and Senate and it didn't get anywhere. The lack of enthusiasm in Washington forced Coxey to organize a protest march that would depart on Easter Sunday, March 25, 1894, from his farm near Massillon, Ohio, and arrive in Washington by May 1.
Helping to promote and direct the march was Carl Browne, whose reincarnation theories Coxey subcribed to. Browne thought he was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, while Coxey thought he used to be Andrew Jackson. Dressed like a frontiersman, Browne had been anything from a patent medicine salesman to a politician. Second to William Jennings Bryan, he was a noted speaker for the free silver monetary policy.
Browne brought along a mysterious man referred to as the "Great Unknown." In his thirties from parts unknown with a martial bearing, a limp, and a slight accent, the Great Unknown attracted all sorts of rumors. Principle of which was that he was a Pinkerton spy.
Commonweal of Christ
The army experienced many difficulties on the march. The weather was rainy, snowy, and cold. Many did not have the proper gear for it. Rations were often low. As they went through Pittsburgh, police arrested dozens of Coxeyites for vagrancy. But they received support and sustenance from many people along the way. With at least 44 reporters tagging along, the people were kept abreast of the "Commonweal of Christ."
After the army crossed the Maryland border and Coxey absented himself on business, the Unknown rallied the men behind him and commandeered the wagons. Seething, Browne telegraphed Coxey. Coxey rushed to the army and called for a vote. The Unknown won 158-4. But Coxey himself cast 154 votes for Browne for a tie, giving Browne command. The Unknown was expelled and Browne revealed in a press conference that the true identity of the Unknown was A.P.B. Bozarro, a patent medicine salesman and occultist.
Washington D.C.
Other "battalions" attempted to join Coxey's Ohio Army. In Montana, Coxeyites stole a train and were chased hundreds of miles before federal soldiers stopped them. A California contingent was stranded in Iowa when unsympathetic railroads would not transport them further. Both groups melted away when they later attempted river travel.
The Washington that Coxey's Army found on May 1 was nervous but prepared. President Grover Cleveland had soldiers from local barracks and the eastern seaboard on alert. Guards surrounded the Treasury building. 20,000 people gathered to witness the confrontation. An attempt by Coxey to make a speech on the Capitol Building steps was blocked by police. Browne tried to resist arrest, causing a minor riot. The two were charged with unauthorized parading on the grass. Most of the Coxeyites watched passively during the tumult.
Despite a sympathetic public, Jacob Coxey's protest march fizzled. The nation quickly lost interest. Washington wasn't receptive to Coxey's expensive road improvement plan. However, in his book Reckless Decade, historian H.W. Brands called Coxey a visionary. His plan foreshadowed the public works projects of the New Deal forty years later.
Coxey's Army, May 1894
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