The historical roots of the US rural-urban divide run deep | Eliza Griswold

Trump’s election revealed a cultural abyss between rural and urban America. That divide has a long history

Over the fireplace at Mingo Creek Craft Distillers, a whiskey purveyor in the small town of Washington, Pennsylvania, a portrait of Alexander Hamilton hangs upside down. With snowy hair and a black velvet jacket, Hamilton wears an impassive look that might be described as hauteur. In 1791, to pay off debts the newly formed United States incurred during the revolutionary war, Hamilton imposed the first federal tax on the people of the region. By taxing their most lucrative product, whiskey, he became what he is here today: a villain representing the excesses of the federal government.

The town of Washington is only a six-hour drive from Manhattan, but it’s a world away from the Broadway stage where Hamilton, clad in snug white knickers, enjoys a better reputation. The difference in regard between the two Hamiltons is a stark illustration of the mutual disdain between rural and urban Americans.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2u6FBOK