Palestinian supporters provided the majority of the protesters in Washington for the World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings.
Around 35ñ50,000 protesters massed at sites across Washington before marching towards the Capitol building.
Anti-globalisation protesters were also joined by young communists, Black Panthers and "Raging Grannies". There were no arrests by police.
"It's been very peaceful, very orderly, just the way it's supposed to be," said Assistant Police Chief Terrance Gainer.
More protests are planned for the next two days and police are concerned about several unauthorised rallies expected during morning rush hour on Monday.
Police Chief Charles Ramsey gave a rough estimate that there were 35ñ50,000 protesters involved in the marches.
Although the meetings of the World Bank and IMF attracted the protesters to Washington, anti-globalisation forces did not seem to mind sharing the stage with many other causes.
The various protests are "all connected in the sense that it's all part of how the world economic structure works," said 24-year-old Brad Duncan of Detroit.
Outside the barricaded buildings of the IMF and World Bank, where world financial powers were meeting, a 30-foot-tall inflated Earth bearing a "For Sale" sign and the Citibank logo was erected.
Not all the groups were in perfect agreement. When Black Panthers chanting "jihad" and "holy war" hoisted a Palestinian flag next to a picture of Osama bin Laden, a Palestinian activist urged them to take the flag down.
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