Quoted:
Quoted: It was built on land given by Virginia, and Maryland (swamp land I might add). The founders didn't want one state to claim the countries capital. |
Seems kind of trivial. |
Not really. Can you imagine the power the State of MD or Virgina would try to flex over the other states if they were the seat of the nation? Additionally, the Founding Fathers wanted impartiality on the part of the nations Capital. They wanted them to be able to act autonomously outside of the influence of the states.
Look back at the impact of Capitals on the European countries during the times of the Revolution. The Founding Fathers also looked there and realized that they did not want that type of conflict or favoritism within any state.
Just as a note, both MD and Virginia gave property (much of it swamps as previously mentioned) to make DC. The original area was 10 miles square as written in the Constitution (Article 1, Section 8) and extended across the Potomac. Virgina wanted its part back and it was returned to them (I'm not totally versed on why), but the MD portion remained.
I'll be there next week for a week on Capitol Hill with some developing leaders with my office (USACE) and spending some good quality time with our Nation's leaders.
M