Posted on 02/03/2006 12:24:08 PM PST by Leatherneck_MT
How did the District of Columbia come by it's name and why was it made the Nation's Capitol?
This was a question posed to me and I have to admit it stumped me.
I'm sure a freeper here can enlighten me.
They're considering changing it to "Imperial City". Has a nice ring to it.
Chuskc Norris named it. Any more questions?
;) Happy Friday!
"Chuskc"? Chuck! I mean...
I was always under the impression that the purpose of DC was so that the seat of government would not be in or beholden to any state and that Maryland and Virginia could take their land back if it became a state since the agreement providing for the transfer of the land would be violated.
It is interesting to look at old letters that Robert E. Lee wrote from his home at Arlington that give Arlington, D.C. as the address.
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It's IS the contraction for it is......sometimes the smartass student pops up.
Yeah, but for years, DC wants to make itself a state. Notice in the beauty contests, contestants representing every state and the District of Columbia. There are other examples. However, if the fed govt pulled out of DC, it would be just another swampland.
"why was it made the Nation's Capitol?"
IIRC, it was a compromise between Jefferson and Hamilton.
Forgive the simplicity of my answer (studied this so long ago)but, Hamilton wanted to create a National Bank and tax the whole nation to pay foreign and domestic debt. Jefferson didn't believe Virginians should pay for debts of other states.
Jefferson agreed to help persuade Virginian Congressmen to help with the assumption of national debt in exchange for northern votes to move the capitol to the south.
You are right, columba is dove. But even in Roman times it was a symbol for peace, that's where I associate it with peace.
It's "Its" Not "It's"
dogpile is better (IMHO), and it's run by right thinking people.
Grammar time...
{Gets down and does that funky sideways boogie}
"It's" refers to the possessive.
Short answer, Washington in honor of first president, and Columbia in honor of Christopher Columbus.
Longer answer can be found in reading the whole durn page here:
http://muweb.millersville.edu/~columbus/data/art/WESTKLN1.ART
Yes, the District of Columbia was named after ol' Chris, as were many other places -- cities, provinces, countries and more. For a list, click.
Note that the South American country you referred to is Colombia, not Columbia. The various spellings no doubt reflect Italian, Latin, Spanish, and English -- just like the name of my state, North Carolina, named after King Charles I of England, but derived from the Latin thereof.
No...
"Its" refers to the possessive. No apostrophe when it's a possessive.
"It's" is a contraction for "It is"
Got tied up at work after I posted this, but thank you all for your responses.
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