How would history be different if St. Louis, MO, were the capital of the U.S.?

Great Debates
21

With a Capital in the Show-me state it seems possible that the whole concept of an “eastern elite” which runs in American political and social history from approximately William Jennings Bryan’s run in 1900 vs. McKinley through Reagan’s Presidency would have been a harder case to make …

I am not sure what it would have meant, really but John Birchers, Rockefeller- haters and populists of every stripe would need to rail against the “Eastern Educational, Media and Financial elite, in conjunction with the national political elite in Missouri of course, are stomping on your rights" with is quite a mouthful and a harder idea to conceptualize.

Just one idea.

Another possibility I think maybe the Interstate Highway system in the 1950’s might have been made more spoke like too with St. Lou as the hub.

22

Then, too, much of the bloodiest fighting and rioting over slavery happened in Missouri. Even in the real world, the state nearly seceded - and, if the national capital had been there, it would have been on the border just like it really was.

23

Ugh. I-270 is bad enough as it is.