{"id":2013755,"date":"2023-08-27T17:55:01","date_gmt":"2023-08-27T21:55:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-the-rich-men-settled-north-of-richmond\/"},"modified":"2023-08-27T18:00:01","modified_gmt":"2023-08-27T22:00:01","slug":"how-the-rich-men-settled-north-of-richmond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-the-rich-men-settled-north-of-richmond\/","title":{"rendered":"Rich men settled north of Richmond."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhow-the-rich-men-settled-north-of-richmond%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2013755&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>How the Rich Men\u200c Settled North of Richmond<\/h2>\n<p>Oliver Anthony\u2019s viral hit, \u201cRich Men North of Richmond,\u201d \u2064has struck a chord.<\/p>\n<p>As of Sunday morning \u2014 less than three weeks after it \u2062first <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=sqSA-SY5Hro\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">appeared on YouTube<\/a> \u2064 \u2014 the song\u2019s video \u200bhas surpassed 44 million views. In was No. 3 in the\u2063 world, according to the Apple iTunes <a href=\"https:\/\/music.apple.com\/us\/playlist\/top-100-global\/pl.d25f5d1181894928af76c85c967f8f31\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Top 100: Global<\/a> \u2062music chart, after a \u2062stint at No. 1.<\/p>\n<p>That kind of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/top-hit-rich-men-north-richmond-raking-estimated-40000-day\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">success<\/a> inspires at \u2063least one \u2062ironic\u2064 reflection: Anthony\u2019s titular rich men were never supposed to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/3-things-anti-america-agitator-angela-davis-can-learn-from-her-pilgrim-ancestors\/\" title=\"3 Things Anti-America Agitator Angela Davis Can Learn From Her Pilgrim Ancestors\u00a0\">settle north<\/a> of Richmond in the first place.<\/p>\n<p>The phrase \u201cRich Men North of Richmond\u201d refers \u2063to politicians in Washington, D.C. Anthony\u2019s lyrics, \u200bcoupled with \u200chis raw and powerful delivery, \u2064make it clear that he \u2062blames those <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/florida-man-in-full\/\" title=\"Florida Man in Action\">rich politicians<\/a> for taxes, inflation,\u2064 human trafficking, high\u2062 suicide rates and the plight of the modern working class.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever one thinks of Anthony\u2019s song and \u2063 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/virginia-factory-worker-becomes-overnight-sensation-blue-collar-anthem-rich-men-north-richmond-blows\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">message<\/a>, many <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/virginia-songwriters-working-class-anthem-rich-men-north-of-richmond-soars-to-top-of-charts\/\" title=\"Virginia songwriter's anthem 'Rich Men North of Richmond' tops charts.\">rich\u200d men<\/a> do\u2063 indeed reside \u200din Washington, D.C., and the \u2063surrounding area.<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usnews.com\/news\/healthiest-communities\/slideshows\/richest-counties-in-america?slide=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">U.S. News &#038; World Report<\/a>, five of the United States\u2019 eight wealthiest counties in 2022 \u2064were suburbs of the national capital. This included Loudoun \u200bCounty, Virginia, and Falls Church County, Virginia, which ranked first and second, respectively.<\/p>\n<p>Clearly, therefore, \u2063a great deal\u200c of wealth has been concentrated\u2062 in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<p>No single development would have \u2064disappointed \u200cthe capital\u2019s founders more than this one.<\/p>\n<h3>The \u200bOrigins \u2063of the Capital<\/h3>\n<p>The story of how and why those founders decided to place\u2064 the capital on the banks \u200cof the Potomac River involves political shenanigans common to \u2063every era, but it also involves the sort \u2063of aspirations that would appeal to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/watershed-moment-rap-community-embraces-rich-men-north-richmond\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Anthony\u2019s audience<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In 1789, the first U.S. Congress met in New York\u200d City. As an impromptu capital, New York served \u200dthe limited purposes of a very small federal establishment. Congressmen from South Carolina and Georgia had reason to complain about the \u2064lengthy journey, but otherwise, the records from that first year show no urgency \u200babout relocating the seat of government.<\/p>\n<p>By the following year, urgency had presented itself. In 1790, the politics\u200c of the national capital\u200b site became entwined with the\u2062 debate over \u2063Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton\u2019s plan to fund the \u2064national debt through customs taxes.<\/p>\n<p>Hamilton considered the funding plan inseparable from his\u2064 broader scheme to bolster U.S. public credit. But James Madison of Virginia, then \u2063a\u200c member of the House of Representatives and Hamilton\u2019s erstwhile ally in the debate over ratification of the Constitution, opposed the funding plan.<\/p>\n<p>To resolve the\u200c dispute, Secretary of State <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/history-left-erased-founding-fathers-helped-obliterate-slavery\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Thomas Jefferson<\/a>, also of Virginia, invited Hamilton and Madison to dinner. \u200cThe\u2063 three statesmen hashed\u200b out a compromise by which Madison\u200d would drop his opposition to Hamilton\u2019s funding plan. In\u2064 exchange, Hamilton would press his Northern\u200c congressional allies to agree to relocate the national capital.<\/p>\n<p>The final bill secured Pennsylvania delegates\u2019 support by establishing the seat of government in Philadelphia for 10 years. Thereafter, \u2063beginning in 1800, the capital would move to an\u200c area along the Potomac \u2063River, on the border between Virginia and \u2063Maryland.<\/p>\n<p>One might\u2064 assume that\u200d the new Southern location appealed\u2063 primarily to those who thought in terms of geography. No doubt\u2063 ordinary politicians from Southern \u2064states welcomed the move on such grounds. Jefferson and Madison, however, had loftier reasons for preferring the Potomac site.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have it in our power to begin the world anew,\u201d Thomas \u200dPaine\u2064 wrote in 1776. That was never quite \u200ctrue in practice, but it certainly conformed to \u200cthe sentiment of a revolutionary age.<\/p>\n<p>The decision to build a capital city from \u2062scratch in the swampy grounds of southern Maryland and northern Virginia had echoes of Paine. It\u200b was tempting in that atmosphere \u2064to\u200d start all things\u2064 anew.<\/p>\n<p>More importantly, Jefferson and Madison in\u2062 particular wanted to separate the seat of \u200dpolitical \u2064power from the centers of financial power. This meant removing the people\u2019s representatives from places such as New York and Philadelphia.<\/p>\n<p>Above\u2063 all, a \u2063national capital on the sparsely settled banks \u200cof the Potomac River would preserve the republic by preventing concentrations of wealth that could lead\u2063 to the formation of an American <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/rottenness-american-ruling-class-exposed-next-move\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ruling class<\/a> akin to the decadent \u200baristocracies that plagued Europe.<\/p>\n<p>All\u200b across the Old World, \u2064money and power coalesced. London functioned as Great\u2062 Britain\u2019s political and financial capital. Paris\u200b did likewise for France. Republican self-government could not thrive in such places.<\/p>\n<p>A U.S. capital in an undesirable location, on the other hand, would serve as \u2062a daily reminder of the government\u2019s limited scope. Public officials would never forget\u2062 their place as public servants. Living and working in Washington, \u2064D.C., would amount to an honor and a burden.<\/p>\n<p>This was\u2063 the plan, and it worked.<\/p>\n<p>We know it worked because men who went to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/trump-torches-filth-decay-dc-swamp-judge-hands-conditions-release\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Washington, D.C.<\/a> in the 19th century did not remain there for their entire careers.<\/p>\n<p>In 1882, Republican James G. Blaine, formerly U.S. senator from Maine, <a href=\"https:\/\/ia800205.us.archive.org\/8\/items\/eulogyonjamesabr02blai\/eulogyonjamesabr02blai.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">eulogized<\/a> the late President James Garfield \u200das one of only a half-dozen men in the republic\u2019s history who had served in the\u2064 House of Representatives for 18 or\u200d more years.<\/p>\n<p>Men did not\u200c treat national politics as a vocation in part because they did not want to live in the mosquito-infested environs of Washington, \u2063D.C.<\/p>\n<p>And for those who could tolerate the location, there was no \u200dmoney in it.<\/p>\n<p>Everything changed in the 20th century. Progressives \u200cand New Deal liberals brought an\u2063 expansive\u200c view\u2064 of federal power to the national government, and the capital began to grow\u200b accordingly. Federal agencies multiplied. Foreign\u2064 entanglements gave\u200c rise to a national-security\u200d state where \u2063money and power concentrated. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-the-rich-men-settled-north-of-richmond\/\" title=\"Rich men settled north of Richmond.\">18th-century hamlet morphed<\/a> into an imperial \u200dmetropolis.<\/p>\n<p>When <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/providence-jefferson-adams-died-50th-anniversary-declaration-independence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jefferson<\/a> and Madison had their way, however, few rich men\u200b settled in the \u200darea \u201cnorth of Richmond\u201d that\u2019s targeted by Oliver Anthony\u2019s song.<\/p>\n<p>The post\u200c <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/rich-men-settled-north-richmond\/\">How the Rich Men Settled North of Richmond<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\">The Western Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oliver Anthony&#8217;s viral hit, &#8220;Rich Men North of Richmond,&#8221; resonates widely. In under three weeks, the YouTube video garnered over 44 million views, reaching No. 3 on the Apple iTunes Top 100: Global music chart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2056,"featured_media":2013756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[548],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2013755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservative-news-daily"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2013755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2056"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2013755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2013755\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2013756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2013755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2013755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2013755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}