By adding the territory of Alaska to the landmass of the country, Seward increased the size of the United States by twenty percent. At the time of the purchase, the rest of the government couldn’t see the point in buying a large piece of empty land that was dark for six months out of the year, had inhospitable weather and was difficult to traverse. But within a few short years oil and gold were discovered in Alaska making the $7.2 million purchase price a bit of a bargain. Seward’s folly turned out to be Seward’s foresight. 
During his senate time, he assisted with the statehood of California, promoted the abolitionist movement and even allowed his home to be used as a stop on the Underground Railroad. He ran for president in 1860 but his party chose Lincoln as their candidate that year. Seward gratefully accepted a nomination from Lincoln to be Secretary of State and served in that capacity for the rest of Lincoln’s term. Secretary of state under Lincoln proved a dramatic role as Seward suffered a knife attack the same evening that Lincoln was assassinated. This was just a setback for the determined Seward who finished his term and then served as Secretary of State under the next President Andrew Johnson.
The Russians had fought against the British in the Crimean War from 1853 to 1856 where both the Russian Empire and the Western European powers fought to obtain the lands now available from the break up of the Ottoman Empire. Russian had no desire to let the British take the land, no matter how fruitless they felt Alaska to be. The Russians offered the land to America out of a determination to upset the British and Seward jumped on the opportunity. 
Lost jobs, high unemployment, inflationary food and fuel costs as well as dissatisfaction with the federal government are nothing new in American history. Well before the Great Depression of the 1930s, Americans felt the pinch of economic woes. The panic of 1893 was one of the country’s first encounters with nationwide money troubles. On March 25, 1894 a group of citizens decided to do something about it. Coxey’s Army is often forgotten in the collective memory of the American people despite being the first official protest march in the country’s history.
In 1893 two major American railroad companies, the Reading and the Philadelphia, went under. With so many banks relying on the accounts of the railroads, the economic problems quickly flowed across the country. By late spring the stock market was in free fall and consumer confidence was at an all time low. In total, over 70 railroad companies, 600 banks and 15,000 businesses failed. The recession was a reflection of a depression spreading across Europe and it seemed nothing could stop what was happening. Many thought no one was even trying.
Small charitable groups and municipal organizations did their best to help the almost three million Americans who lost their job during the panic. But their resources were not equipped to cope with such numbers. The federal government, under then president Grover Cleveland, had little to no reaction to the panic. There was no revitalization plan, no increase in the money flow, no direction for business to follow.
Jacob Coxey was a business owner in Ohio and found it difficult to run his sand quarry given the problems facing the economy. He, like so many others, was frustrated at the lack of assistance offered by the federal government to America’s workers. Coxey felt an influx of money into the system as well as municipal projects to create jobs would do a lot to help the country get back on its feet. He decided to go to Washington and share his thoughts with the people up on the hill.
Coxey created an “industrial army” of workers who followed his lead and began to march. They left Massillon, Ohio on Easter Sunday and began their slow trek to the capital city.
As the workers traveled to the capital to express their outrage their numbers continued to swell. News of Coxey’s army had spread and groups of unemployed men and women came from across the country to enlist. Coxey had hoped for a thousand to join him. What began as a large crowd of about 100 became 500 as they reached Washington D.C. on May 1st.
| Rather than ending in a massive victory for the working people and businesses of America, Coxey and his protest resulted in charges of trespassing and no change to the government’s handling of the economy. What the protestors did do however, was prove to a nation that | |
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determination can inspire others to join a cause, whether worker or business owner, and that government should be more involved in the lives of its people.
The panic of 1893 lasted four years and things only began to improve after a change of president. Crop prices began to increase and public perception of change helped restart the economy. The growing Populist party advocated governmental reform and the nation slowly put the crisis behind itself. Coxey was one example of the spirit of the reform movement. |
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A good cup of tea has always been a British favorite. At one time it was extremely popular among the royal colonies in America. Perhaps that is why it became a weapon, a symbol of power, control and rebellion culminating on December 16, 1773 at a harbor in Boston.
The colonists were unhappy with all the new taxes as they meant paying the debts of another country which not actually representing the people of the American colonies. The phrase ‘no taxation without representation’ stems from this time. By making the imported tea cheaper than it had ever been and simultaneously placing an import tax on the cargo, the British government, namely King George III, tried to bribe the colonists into accepting British rule. Paying the tax would admit the crown had authority.
A sort of stalemate ensued, until a cool night in December when approximately 116 Bostonians, frustrated by failed meetings and apathetic customs officers, descended on three ships docked at Boston harbor. Dressed in Native American costume and donned with war paint, the men illegally boarded the ships and dumped the tea chests into the harbor.
The ring leaders of this historic act of rebellion had been planning the sedition since the end of November when news of the ships arrival was proclaimed. The ships sat in harbor at Griffin’s Wharf for two weeks where they were guarded by a volunteer force of sentries. Their job was enforcing the resolutions made at meetings of the Boston Sons of Liberty group which stated that the tea would not touch land.
