Is US Politics About the Money?
From its earliest days, this country has been about money.
Jamestown was founded by moneyed interest and
Plymouth had financial
backers who expected a return on their investment.
The world of Plymouth
was just settling down when English religious tolerance increased,
immigration stopped and some inhabitants returned to England.
The
population declined, asset values plunged, and
Plymouth had
one-hundred years of economic stagnation.
The talented moved north
to Boston. It was a brain/talent drain.
Gresham's Law that bad paper
money chases good gold coins also applies to people.
A bad economy chased the most
talented people toward Boston's economic opportunity.
See
All Immigrates Welcomed By 1654 New Amsterdam
By the middle of the 18th century
colonial trade with other nations was flourishing
and very wealthy
smugglers like John Hancock did not want to pay taxes for British
military protection.
He financed the Minutemen and eventually the
colonies won their independence.
Was the Revolution about the money?
Secretary of the Treasury
Alexander
Hamilton embodied Jefferson deepest republican fear
that some
would sacrifice liberty for the expedience of absolute authority.
Alexander plans for a national financial system which would assume all
national and
state debt caused much turmoil as many southern states had
paid their debt.
In addition many of the national and state bonds had been sold
by veterans at a discount
to wealthy easterners speculators who would earn a
substantial profit.
Hamilton wanted to put the federal government
at the center of nation's financial system
to further secure its world
position.
He got Madison to end his disapproval of
Hamilton's debt plan by agreeing with
Madison's desire to move
the nation's capital to a site along the Potomac River.
George
Washington an avid land speculator owned much of this land.
Some in
Virginia charged Congress with an
unconstitutional act.
See Instigators Finely Hit a Nerve With The 1773 Boston Tea Party
Before leaving office Washington had to put down a
rural revolt of
whiskey producers
who didn’t want to pay taxes.
In
addition there were threats of impeachment because
many felt Washington had broken the constitution when he
signed the Jay
Treaty.
Southerners disliked England whose goods thy felt were too expensive.
They also supported France.
The Northeast wanted England's industrial
good to expand manufacturing.
President Washington served well and feared a political party system
would not only develop,
it would be dangerous. But two plus parties were
inevitable.
Federalist like Adams and Hamilton wanted tariffs to protect
their business interest.
Wealthy business
owner Oligarchs were friendly to England and wanted a strong central
government.
Jefferson, Madison and other wealthy southern Oligarchs,
wanted low
tariffs so they could buy cheap European merchandise.
This required low
tariffs and a Republic run by the people and
not a country tied to
Northern manufacturing.
The Revolution Was About The money.
See Presidential Courage Andrew Jackson
See Educating the Class of 2030
See Source 1 and California electricity crisis
2024 Net Worth of Recent Presidents and Spouse
Clinton $120 million
Bush 40 million
Obama $70 million
Biden estate $10 million
Trump
2016 3.7 Billion
2021 2.4 Billion
2024 2.4 Billion
2025 additional
$3.5 to $5.9 billion
Legal Liabilities:
Trump owes nearly $600 million in legal judgments
Recent presidents
from GROK
including a $454 million civil fraud penalty