3 ms·

Why do you think that not one of the capitals of any of the 50 states is in the largest city? And why the national capital city is Washington DC rather than Ne

Why do you think that not one of the capitals of any of the 50 states is in the largest city? And why the national capital city is Washington DC rather than New York City? Same reason.

woodruffw 4y ago
> Why do you think that not one of the capitals of any of the 50 states is in the largest city? Phoenix, Arizona? That's the first one that came to mind, but I'm sure there's others. Besides, that's not why DC is where it is. Our early leaders, for better or worse, thought it was best for it to be an independent district. Making NYC (or any other predeveloped city) into an independent entity is much harder than just creating a new one.
- Jtsummers 4y ago
  Utah, Georgia, Oklahoma, Colorado as well and then I got bored checking. NC has Charlotte as the biggest city, but Raleigh isn’t small.
- fallingfrog 4y ago
  I remember learning in grade school that the founders were aware of the fact that in France, the politics of the Paris proletariat totally dominated french politics and the king was always afraid of uprisings, so they decided to put the capital in a backwater city to avoid unrest toppling the government. Now that I’m looking for it, though, I cannot easily find evidence that that is true- I wonder why I was taught that?
  - woodruffw 4y ago
    Sounds like you had a teacher with an overactive imagination. That, or mine was hiding The Truth :-) (I can think of a handful of other factors that contribute to the US's weird capital city distribution, like real estate cost and the fact that many capitals were established after the telegram, making colocation in the largest city of each state less necessary.)
Spooky23 4y ago
That usually happens when the political dynamic is contested between the big commercial city and other state interests. New York is a great example. The state is large, historically rich but with very different interests. Albany is sort of a middle ground. Massachusetts is different. The politics are such that Boston was always dominant. Nationally, the slave states were agricultural dominated by manor like real estate barons. They were afraid of the northeast states and their traders and manufacturers and felt a capital closer to them would be less hostile to their interests.
cesarb 4y ago
> Why do you think that not one of the capitals of any of the 50 states is in the largest city? Are we talking about Brazil or the USA? Here in Brazil, the capital of the state of São Paulo (also called São Paulo, the state and the city have the same name) is the largest city not only of the state, but also of the whole country; according to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_cities https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_cities), it's one of the largest cities in the world. The same happens for the state of Rio de Janeiro, where I live; its capital, also called Rio de Janeiro (another case where the state and the city have the same name), and which is also the country's former capital, is once again the largest city of the state (and second largest of the country, and also one of the largest cities in the world). Go down the list of "largest cities in Brazil", and you will find several others which are the capital of their state. The capital of the state being the largest city in it is more of a rule than an exception.

Why do you think that not one of the capitals of any of the 50 states is in the largest city? And why the national capital city is Washington DC rather than New York City? Same reason.

woodruffw 4y ago

> Why do you think that not one of the capitals of any of the 50 states is in the largest city? Phoenix, Arizona? That's the first one that came to mind, but I'm sure there's others. Besides, that's not why DC is where it is. Our early leaders, for better or worse, thought it was best for it to be an independent district. Making NYC (or any other predeveloped city) into an independent entity is much harder than just creating a new one.

Jtsummers 4y ago
Utah, Georgia, Oklahoma, Colorado as well and then I got bored checking. NC has Charlotte as the biggest city, but Raleigh isn’t small.
fallingfrog 4y ago
I remember learning in grade school that the founders were aware of the fact that in France, the politics of the Paris proletariat totally dominated french politics and the king was always afraid of uprisings, so they decided to put the capital in a backwater city to avoid unrest toppling the government. Now that I’m looking for it, though, I cannot easily find evidence that that is true- I wonder why I was taught that?
- woodruffw 4y ago
  Sounds like you had a teacher with an overactive imagination. That, or mine was hiding The Truth :-) (I can think of a handful of other factors that contribute to the US's weird capital city distribution, like real estate cost and the fact that many capitals were established after the telegram, making colocation in the largest city of each state less necessary.)

Spooky23 4y ago

That usually happens when the political dynamic is contested between the big commercial city and other state interests. New York is a great example. The state is large, historically rich but with very different interests. Albany is sort of a middle ground. Massachusetts is different. The politics are such that Boston was always dominant. Nationally, the slave states were agricultural dominated by manor like real estate barons. They were afraid of the northeast states and their traders and manufacturers and felt a capital closer to them would be less hostile to their interests.

cesarb 4y ago

> Why do you think that not one of the capitals of any of the 50 states is in the largest city? Are we talking about Brazil or the USA? Here in Brazil, the capital of the state of São Paulo (also called São Paulo, the state and the city have the same name) is the largest city not only of the state, but also of the whole country; according to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_cities https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_cities), it's one of the largest cities in the world. The same happens for the state of Rio de Janeiro, where I live; its capital, also called Rio de Janeiro (another case where the state and the city have the same name), and which is also the country's former capital, is once again the largest city of the state (and second largest of the country, and also one of the largest cities in the world). Go down the list of "largest cities in Brazil", and you will find several others which are the capital of their state. The capital of the state being the largest city in it is more of a rule than an exception.