Coxey's Army

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Marchers leaving their camp

Coxey's Army was a protest march by unemployed workers from the United States, led by the populist Jacob Coxey. They marched on Washington D.C. in 1894, the second year of a four-year economic depression that was the worst in United States history to that time. Officially named the Commonweal of Christ, its nickname came from its leader and was more enduring. It was the first significant popular protest march on Washington and the expression "Enough food to feed Coxey's Army" originates from this march.

The purpose of the march was to protest the unemployment caused by the Panic of 1893 and to lobby for the government to create jobs building roads and other public works improvements. The march originated with 100 men in Massillon, Ohio on March 25, 1894. Various groups from around the country gathered to join the march, and its number had grown to 500 with more on the way from further west when it reached Washington on April 30, 1894. Coxey and other leaders of the insurrection were arrested the next day for walking on the grass of the United States Capitol, and the rest of the men scattered.

Among the people observing the march was L. Frank Baum, before he gained fame. There are political interpretations of his book, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz written 1900, which has often been related to Coxey's Army. In his novel, Dorothy, the Scarecrow (the American farmer), Tin Woodman (the industrial worker), and Cowardly Lion, (political leader), march on the yellow brick road to Oz, the Capital, demanding relief from the Wizard, who is interpreted to be the President. Dorothy's shoes are interpreted to symbolize using silver instead of the gold standard (the road of yellow brick) because the shortage of gold precipitated the Panic of 1893. In the film adaptation of the Wizard of Oz, the silver shoes were turned into ruby for the cinematic effect of color, as the Wizard of Oz was one of the first Technicolor films.