What State Is Washington, D.C. In?

What state is Washington, D.C. in? Is it a part of Maryland? Or, how about Virginia? West Virginia, perhaps? It’s close to all of those, but it’s not actually IN any of them. So what state is Washington, D.C. in? The short answer is that it’s not in a state at all. Read on to find out why, what it is, and how its residents are represented in our government.

Washington D.C. is not in a state. In fact, there is no such city as Washington, D.C. At least seven states have a city called Washington, but none of them is Washington, D.C. The District of Columbia, which is the capital of the United States, is its own federal district, governed ultimately by Congress, and therefore not under the authority or protection of any state.

Some people say the nation’s capital isn’t in a state because the founding fathers didn’t want one state to have more power than any other state on account of it being the home of the nation’s capital. This is a myth. The capital used to be located in Philadelphia, but following an incident in 1783, it was moved.

Establishing the District

After the Revolutionary War, some 500 soldiers went to Philadelphia to demand payment for their service in the war. When they were ignored, they barricaded the doors of Independence Hall and refused to allow the members of Congress convened inside to leave. After some persuading on the part of Alexander Hamilton, the delegates were allowed to leave and reconvene later to discuss the soldiers’ demands.

In the meantime, Congress appealed to the Pennsylvania Executive Council for protection. At the time, the federal government had no official control over the military except during war time. The country relied heavily, therefore, on state militias to maintain order and enforce laws. The Pennsylvania Executive Council doubted that their militia would fight against fellow soldiers to protect Congress, so the request for protection was denied.

Congress had no choice, then, but to flee Pennsylvania and begin to draft plans for a federal district that they themselves would govern and protect. Four years later, when the Constitution was written, and finally in 1789 when it went into effect, Congress had the legal means to establish a federal district in which to safely conduct their business. By 1800, the city of Washington had been established, and Congress had begun holding sessions there.

Article One of the Constitution provides that Congress has the power “to exercise exclusive legislation” over a federal district. This district was established in 1791 along the Potomac River, and it included land given by the states of both Maryland and Virginia.

Originally named The Territory of Columbia, this federal district included the established cities of:

• Georgetown (Maryland)
• Alexandria (Virginia)
• Washington, the new federal city

The territory also had two counties – the County of Alexandria to the west of the river, and the County of Washington to the east.

In 1846, Alexandria was returned to Virginia, and in 1871, the rest of the territory was effectively combined into a single municipality called the District of Columbia. So the city we know now as Washington, D.C. is actually not Washington at all. The federal city of Washington ceased to exist in 1871 when it was absorbed into the District of Columbia.

The official name of the nation’s capital is the District of Columbia, but the name Washington continues to be used even to this day. Incidentally, the former city of Georgetown still exists, but is regarded as a historical neighborhood within the district.

Representation

One of the reasons Alexandria wanted to go back to being a part of Virginia was that residents of the District of Columbia were not represented in Congress. Many other factors played into the final decision to retrocede, economic decline due to neglect by Congress, issues arising from slavery and the impending emancipation, etc., but representation in Congress was a big issue.

Because the District of Columbia is not a state, Washingtonians still can’t elect voting Senators or Representatives to Congress. However, as of 1961, with the ratification of the 23rd Amendment, residents of the district can now vote for the offices of President and Vice President, and they have Electors in the Electoral College representing them as though they were a state.

The 23rd Amendment grants them representation for Presidential and Vice Presidential elections based on the population of the district (as though they were a state), but the number of Electors sent by the District of Columbia may not exceed those of the least populous state.