Urban vs Rural

[timelets]

the yellow fever will discourage the growth of great cities in our nation; & I view great cities as pestilential to the morals, the health and the liberties of man. true, they nourish some of the elegant arts; but the useful ones can thrive elsewhere, and less perfection in the others with more health virtue & freedom would be my choice.

--- From Thomas Jefferson to Benjamin Rush, 23 September 1800.
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-32-02-0102

re: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1793_Philadelphia_yellow_fever_epidemic

As usual, the future looks crazy, the past [even when represented by major figures of that time] looks stupid.

Comments

[tijd]

The 1793 epidemic destroyed the status of Philadelphia and enabled some distribution of wealth and power. There was a lesson in it somewhere but not the one taken by Jefferson.

In 1793, Philadelphia was the financial center of the United States. The first Bank of the United States and the first stock exchange were located here. The port of Philadelphia was among the busiest in North America. After yellow fever, however, other cities embargoed goods coming from Philadelphia and merchants were wary of sending cargo to the city. In 1796, New York overtook Philadelphia in the value of imports. A year later, it exceeded our city in exports.
Furthermore, in 1793 Philadelphia was the capital of both Pennsylvania and the United States. When yellow fever struck, the federal and state governments fled to places like Germantown and Grays Ferry. George Washington’s household moved to the Deshler Morris House, the so-called Germantown White House. In 1799, the state capital was moved to Lancaster, far from the fetid, and potentially disease-infested city. And the national capital, of course, was relocated to Washington, D.C. in 1800.
If Philadelphia had become an economic powerhouse akin to New York City, or the national capital like Washington, D.C., it is unlikely that it would have developed as the walkable, neighborhood-based, blue collar, and proudly parochial city that we love.
https://hiddencityphila.org/2020/04/the-yellow-fever-epidemic-of-1793-and-its-impact-on-the-built-environment/

[timelets]

Of course, it impacted Philadelphia's status. Nevertheless, American cities, including Philadelphia, continued to grow and came to dominate both the country's economy and culture.