Richmond Junto

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RICHMOND JUNTO

RICHMOND JUNTO, headed by Thomas Ritchie, editor and publisher (1804–1845) of the Richmond Enquirer, was a group that controlled Virginia Democratic politics for more than a quarter century. Its membership included Ritchie's cousins Spencer Roane and John Brockenbrough. The junto allied with Thomas Jefferson, who, in his post-presidential years, described the Enquirer as the only newspaper in the country worth reading. Strongly states' rights in tone, the Richmond junto opposed the Missouri Compromise on the grounds that the federal government had no right to limit slavery's extension westward. It likewise opposed the tariff, the Bank of the United States, and internal improvements.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ambler, Charles H. Thomas Ritchie: A Study in Virginia Politics. Richmond, Va.: Bell Books, 1913.

Syndor, Charles S. The Development of Southern Sectionalism, 1819–1848. Baton Rouge, La.: 1948.

Alvin F.Harlow/a. g.

See alsoMissouri Compromise ; States' Rights .

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