Coxey

It is said the history repeats itself and a review of Coxey's Army in 1894 is a timely example. It was in the second year of a four year depression that swept across the country and a populist figure, businessman Jacob Coxey, organized a march on Washington, the first of its kind. His plan was to have the federal government hire people at $1.50 per day to build infrastructure. He had the masses of unemployed mostly low and middle income people on his side but he was opposed by business, government and the news media. The march was called the Army of the Commonwealth in Christ. President Cleveland said while the people must patriotically support the government it was not the governments job to extend relief to individuals.Trump could be the modern day equivalent of Jacob Coxey. Trump is an outsider who has gathered the support of the low and middle income group and he is opposed by the bureaucracy, the democrats which are trending toward being the party of white, college educated professionals, the national press, big business, Silicon Valley and Hollywood. At first Coxey was treated as a joke by the press but as they marched, citizens of city after city joined the marchers. The press labeled the marches as lazy, unwilling to work and even criminals. The respectable class saw the marches as rabble-rousers. It exposed a difference based on class. Coxey planned to give a speech about using government to hire people to build infrastructure but as he started the police arrested him an charged him with walking on the grass. He was sentenced to twenty days in jail. Some of his supporters were arrested and put on the chain gang and the whole march fell apart.