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Coxey’s Army Marches on Washington

Back in the day on April 30th, 1894, Ohio populist Jacob Coxey arrived to Washington D.C. with five hundred unemployed workers. The assembled ‘industrial army’ planned to march on the nation’s capital in response to the economic difficulties brought on by the Great Panic of 1893. As the nation was facing its worst downturn at the time, Coxey’s idea for the demonstration began with one hundred men in Ohio. Hundreds more would join and sympathize with the march as it made its trek towards Washington D.C. through Pennsylvania. The populist decried federal inaction in the face of hardships and proposed many solutions similar to those that would be enacted decades later under the New Deal. Coxey argued that people could be back on the job improving the nation’s roads and building public works if the government financed such projects through bonds.

But before he could deliver a rousing speech on behalf of his ‘industrial army’ on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, Coxey was arrested for merely stepping on its lawn.

For Uprising, this is your truth professa’ saying it’s no mystery why they conceal our people’s history!