Daily Quiz for November 4, 2008

Jobless men. During the economic crisis of 1893-94, groups of jobless men organized into so-called “armies” with their leaders referred to as “generals.” Among the best know was Coxey’s Army, led by Jacob S. Coxey of Massillon, Ohio. Coxey called for the armies to march on Washington with their demands for relief. Coxey advocated, as a way to provide jobs and increase the amount of money in circulation, a public works program of road construction and local improvements to be financed by the issuance of $500 million in legal tender notes. Coxey’s Army of unemployed disbanded when Coxey and two other leaders were arrested for trespassing on the U.S. Capitol grounds in 1894.