Coxey’s Crusade for Jobs : Unemployment in the Gilded Age /
Prout, Jerry
Coxey’s Crusade for Jobs : Unemployment in the Gilded Age / Jerry Prout. - 1 online resource (184 p.) : 11 illustrations
Frontmatter -- Contents -- INTRODUCTION The Cause of the Unemployed -- CHAPTER ONE They Sleep on Marble Floors -- CHAPTER TWO The Good Roads Plan -- CHAPTER THREE A Millenarian Spectacle -- CHAPTER FOUR Through the Prism of the Argus-Eyed -- CHAPTER FIVE "Coxey is Coming" -- EPILOGUE The Crusade Continued -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index
restricted access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec
In the depths of a depression in 1894, a highly successful Gilded Age businessman named Jacob Coxey led a group of jobless men on a march from his hometown of Massillon, Ohio, to the steps of the nation's Capitol. Though a financial panic and the resulting widespread business failures caused millions of Americans to be without work at the time, the word unemployment was rarely used and generally misunderstood. In an era that worshipped the self-reliant individual who triumphed in a laissez-faire market, the out-of-work "tramp" was disparaged as weak or flawed, and undeserving of assistance. Private charities were unable to meet the needs of the jobless, and only a few communities experimented with public works programs. Despite these limitations, Coxey conceived a plan to put millions back to work building a nationwide system of roads and drew attention to his idea with the march to Washington. In Coxey's Crusade for Jobs, Jerry Prout recounts Coxey's story and adds depth and context by focusing on the reporters who were embedded in the march. Their fascinating depictions of life on the road occupied the headlines and front pages of America's newspapers for more than a month, turning the spectacle into a serialized drama. These accounts humanized the idea of unemployment and helped Americans realize that in a new industrial economy, unemployment was not going away and the unemployed deserved attention. This unique study will appeal to scholars and students interested in the Gilded Age and US and labor history.
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
In English.
9781501756900
10.1515/9781501756900 doi
Labor--History--United States--19th century.
Unemployed--History--United States--19th century.
Unemployment--History--United States--19th century.
Working class--History--United States--19th century.
Humanities & Human Rights.
Labor History.
U.S. History.
HISTORY / United States / 19th Century.
populism, laissez-faire market, Masillon Ohio, Jacob Coxey.
331.13/797309034
Coxey’s Crusade for Jobs : Unemployment in the Gilded Age / Jerry Prout. - 1 online resource (184 p.) : 11 illustrations
Frontmatter -- Contents -- INTRODUCTION The Cause of the Unemployed -- CHAPTER ONE They Sleep on Marble Floors -- CHAPTER TWO The Good Roads Plan -- CHAPTER THREE A Millenarian Spectacle -- CHAPTER FOUR Through the Prism of the Argus-Eyed -- CHAPTER FIVE "Coxey is Coming" -- EPILOGUE The Crusade Continued -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index
restricted access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec
In the depths of a depression in 1894, a highly successful Gilded Age businessman named Jacob Coxey led a group of jobless men on a march from his hometown of Massillon, Ohio, to the steps of the nation's Capitol. Though a financial panic and the resulting widespread business failures caused millions of Americans to be without work at the time, the word unemployment was rarely used and generally misunderstood. In an era that worshipped the self-reliant individual who triumphed in a laissez-faire market, the out-of-work "tramp" was disparaged as weak or flawed, and undeserving of assistance. Private charities were unable to meet the needs of the jobless, and only a few communities experimented with public works programs. Despite these limitations, Coxey conceived a plan to put millions back to work building a nationwide system of roads and drew attention to his idea with the march to Washington. In Coxey's Crusade for Jobs, Jerry Prout recounts Coxey's story and adds depth and context by focusing on the reporters who were embedded in the march. Their fascinating depictions of life on the road occupied the headlines and front pages of America's newspapers for more than a month, turning the spectacle into a serialized drama. These accounts humanized the idea of unemployment and helped Americans realize that in a new industrial economy, unemployment was not going away and the unemployed deserved attention. This unique study will appeal to scholars and students interested in the Gilded Age and US and labor history.
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
In English.
9781501756900
10.1515/9781501756900 doi
Labor--History--United States--19th century.
Unemployed--History--United States--19th century.
Unemployment--History--United States--19th century.
Working class--History--United States--19th century.
Humanities & Human Rights.
Labor History.
U.S. History.
HISTORY / United States / 19th Century.
populism, laissez-faire market, Masillon Ohio, Jacob Coxey.
331.13/797309034