The Virginia Gentry: America's Only Aristocracy and What We can Learn from Them
About this episode
Will Tanner discusses the history and significance of the Virginia Gentry with guest J Burden, exploring their unique role as America's only aristocracy.
In this episode, Will discusses the history, formation, and immense accomplishments of the Virginia Gentry with J Burden. The two cover why the Virginian planter class was different from the planters of the Deep South and the WASPs of the North, making it the only real American aristocracy. They then cover how the famed "Virginia Cavalier" migration wave was true in a sense, and how it brought the concept of state, church, and property being unified to the Old Dominion. Building on that, they discuss how the leading men of Old Virginia built their local power and sovereignty through a "cursus honorum" that combined the best aspects of aristocracy and democracy to build a tremendously competent leadership class in Colonial Virginia and Early Republic America. Finally, the two then discuss what we can learn from the Virginia gentry to rebuild effective political, social, and economic power as a counter-elite. Listen ad-free here: https://www.theamericantribune.news/p/the-virginia-gentry-americas-only Sources Referenced in this Episode: I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you would like to support the show at no added cost to yourself, you can do so by using the links below to order and…
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