Why DC's Shaped Like That

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  • čas přidán 7. 11. 2022
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Komentáře • 970

  • @Stratelier
    @Stratelier Před rokem +1780

    Fun fact: The constitution did not define Washington DC's area as "100 square miles" but "10 miles square", and THAT is why its overall shape is not just any old 259-square-km rectangle, but in fact a _square._

    • @cringeSpeedrunner
      @cringeSpeedrunner Před 7 měsíci +17

      This deserves a comment for the number of likes it has. Here.

    • @najrenchelf2751
      @najrenchelf2751 Před 6 měsíci +5

      Why would you ever phrase it like that? XD

    • @HenryLoenwind
      @HenryLoenwind Před 5 měsíci +14

      @@najrenchelf2751Because putting the "square" in front of "miles" when writing it in letters instead of superscript numbers is a modern fad. Back then, it still was "miles²" and "miles squared". Give it another hundred years, and we'll be writing "²miles", too.

    • @atroll9996
      @atroll9996 Před 4 měsíci +9

      ​@@HenryLoenwind miles tetrated? What?

    • @object-official
      @object-official Před 4 měsíci

      ​@@atroll9996exactly

  • @caseclosed9612
    @caseclosed9612 Před rokem +392

    DC was very specifically told to be there or be square

  • @UncommonElevators
    @UncommonElevators Před rokem +1157

    2:30 is slightly inaccurate. When DC was created, all of the Virginia side was Alexandria County. In 1870, Alexandria City was seperated from the county when Virginia amended their constitution to make cities not part of counties (this is an oddity among our state laws). In 1920 the remaining part of Alexandria County was renamed to Arlington County.

    • @foiledthrice
      @foiledthrice Před rokem +43

      the dimensions also say 249 sq km, a double mistake for the next video

    • @legoyoda256
      @legoyoda256 Před rokem +7

      🤓

    • @ardentvibe6917
      @ardentvibe6917 Před rokem +39

      AND Arlington is a county, and NOT a city - despite having the largest collection of sky scrapers in the entire Washington D.C. metropolitan area.

    • @guatemalantomcat
      @guatemalantomcat Před rokem +12

      I guess that wasn't as catchy as "they separated because racism"

    • @nataliegrn17
      @nataliegrn17 Před rokem +11

      To one reply: The reason for the split, stated as racism in the video, isn't changed by this comment correction.

  • @gotnomoney6779
    @gotnomoney6779 Před rokem +507

    If stock images didn't exist, Half as Interesting wouldn't exist.

    • @Bacopa68
      @Bacopa68 Před rokem +52

      Good thing there's Storyblocks, a subscription-based stock photo and video resource.

    • @TheElusiveReality
      @TheElusiveReality Před rokem +26

      way back in the day they had an animator but as soon as sam got that storyblocks subscription they took him out back like old yeller

    • @mikeymike9926
      @mikeymike9926 Před rokem +13

      No half as interesting would just be half as interesting with just audio

    • @tweezerjam
      @tweezerjam Před rokem +7

      Its kinda lazy and lame, imo

    • @archerelms
      @archerelms Před rokem +22

      @@tweezerjam eh, I've seen it done a lot worse. I'm here more for the education and humor than the visuals anyway, and the stock photos sometimes add a lot to the humor

  • @bababababababa6124
    @bababababababa6124 Před rokem +977

    Crazy how this would not even be the smallest state by population if it became a state

    • @endermeap6488
      @endermeap6488 Před rokem +54

      Vermont gang

    • @bababababababa6124
      @bababababababa6124 Před rokem +123

      @@endermeap6488 Wy***ng gang

    • @Koblac
      @Koblac Před rokem +71

      @@bababababababa6124 (almost) Alaska gang
      It’s only like 20k behind!
      fun fact: alaska has more coastline than the rest of the us combined.

    • @jakkakasunset5485
      @jakkakasunset5485 Před rokem +4

      @@Koblac Are you also Alaskan?

    • @TrollGarlic
      @TrollGarlic Před rokem +29

      The great wyoming void(wyoming is fake)

  • @elduderino007
    @elduderino007 Před rokem +131

    1:06 I love using stock footage of Minneapolis for this segment because not only is it not Washing D.C. it's not even the capital of Minnesota.

    • @counterfit5
      @counterfit5 Před rokem +18

      And that followed Amtrak being represented by the Rhaetian Railway in Switzerland

    • @elduderino007
      @elduderino007 Před rokem +16

      @@counterfit5 I honestly feel like there are so many meta jokes on this channel if you pay attention.

    • @Cheppy44
      @Cheppy44 Před rokem +1

      Stone arch bridge!

    • @lucase.2546
      @lucase.2546 Před rokem +2

      Was just about to comment this. Is there something HAI knows that we don’t?

  • @martythestines
    @martythestines Před rokem +293

    Fun fact: 🤓
    I live in York Pennsylvania. It's just West over the river from Lancaster. There are sooo many businesses here that use the phrase First Capital. Why? Because somebody supposedly did a rough draft of something called The Articles of Confederation, where the Country was referred as The United States of America for the first time. Yet technically, it was the "forth" capital when congress met here.

    • @mikemotter3685
      @mikemotter3685 Před rokem +25

      Imagine my surprise when I left York and literally nobody knew about the whole First Capital thing

    • @johnnessuno6515
      @johnnessuno6515 Před rokem +13

      Imagine my surprise when I lived in an adjacent county my whole life and just learned this

    • @tatianachichilla2974
      @tatianachichilla2974 Před rokem +8

      Ayy fellow York resident. At least we got the marquis de Lafayette

    • @AndrewPonti
      @AndrewPonti Před rokem +7

      Imagine my surprise leaving New Cumberland and now live in Southern MD an hour south of DC and and people have no idea about how to correctly say "Lancaster" LOL

    • @nuclearbanana1631
      @nuclearbanana1631 Před rokem +2

      dang i dont care

  • @danielgreen1557
    @danielgreen1557 Před rokem +55

    I live in Arlington and I live near the old corner stone of the original stone that marked the corner border between Virginia and DC. today, it just serves as the marker between Arlington (OG DC) and Falls Church.

    • @King-kw1mo
      @King-kw1mo Před rokem

      If Va took its land back it should’ve destroyed the stones 👀 seems weird to Keep them up

  • @CrackShotCleric
    @CrackShotCleric Před rokem +179

    Also part of the retrogression deal was Virginia gave all rights to ownership of the Potomac River to Maryland, instead of the existing 50/50 split till that point. To this day, Virginia regrets that decision.

    • @jk484
      @jk484 Před rokem +3

      How does it effect them in real life though?

    • @CrackShotCleric
      @CrackShotCleric Před rokem +58

      @@jk484 Rights to the Potomac include taxes on anything harvested from it. Fishing and water processing chief among them.

    • @bandzdmv
      @bandzdmv Před rokem +4

      VA gets the economic stimulus back from DoD. Benefits more off than DC MD. I bet you MD wishes we would have took our land back

    • @taoliu3949
      @taoliu3949 Před rokem +4

      That's not true. Ownership of the Potomac was determined by the original colonial charters.

    • @User31129
      @User31129 Před rokem +6

      Yep, as soon as you step off the Virginia coast of the Potomac and both feet are in the water, you're officially in Maryland (or DC) now.

  • @TS_Mind_Swept
    @TS_Mind_Swept Před rokem +281

    I never knew it was originally a full square, I always thought it was a weird shape because that's just how they do things 🤷🏿‍♀️

    • @marmac83
      @marmac83 Před rokem +3

      I see. Did you ever look at a map? Hmm...

    • @TS_Mind_Swept
      @TS_Mind_Swept Před rokem +19

      @@marmac83 No. No I did not. Not ever in my life.

    • @marmac83
      @marmac83 Před rokem +4

      @@TS_Mind_Swept clearly

    • @TS_Mind_Swept
      @TS_Mind_Swept Před rokem +9

      @@marmac83 Come to think of it, you should probably try it sometime yourself, instead of those girly magazines all the time

    • @marmac83
      @marmac83 Před rokem +5

      @@TS_Mind_Swept misogynistic and geographically illiterate... you're hitting all the nails on the head 🤣

  • @Fortzon
    @Fortzon Před rokem +214

    3:40 It's amazing how little foresight the federal government had when making this restriction. Did they really think that Washington never grows enough to need all the land it was given? No wonder Alexandria City and Arlington County wanted to rejoin Virginia (on top of the slave thing) if you restrict new buildings only to the north of the Potomac and don't allow them anything new.

    • @timmccarthy872
      @timmccarthy872 Před rokem +40

      You make a good point, BUT, 100 square miles was ludicrously large by 1700s standards. For most of its history, most of the District, even the Maryland part, was forest and farmland, with a small city in the center. Then the automobile made sprawl possible and DC filled out.

    • @AaronOfMpls
      @AaronOfMpls Před rokem +41

      @@timmccarthy872 "Then the automobile made sprawl possible and DC filled out." -- Well, mass transit like trains and streetcars allowed it to a lesser extent even before widespread car ownership.
      But yah, in the 1700s, pretty much every city -- including super-populous ones like London or Istanbul -- was still small enough to walk across. The "10 miles square" the Constitution allowed probably seemed like a more-than-reasonable city-state.

    • @Fortzon
      @Fortzon Před rokem +6

      @@timmccarthy872 Yeah I get that 100 square miles was massive in 1700s but why give all that land if you aren't going to use it to its full potential? Maybe they gave that much land because 100 is a nice round number? 😁

    • @timmccarthy872
      @timmccarthy872 Před rokem +5

      @@Fortzon Well, George Washington, land speculator that he was, thought it WOULD fill out the district and become the economic center of the United States. Which was, shall we say, fanciful.

    • @zerg539
      @zerg539 Před rokem +6

      @@timmccarthy872 it probably could have been if it was allowed to grow and the hamstringing of potential growth on the Virginia side by blocking building for nearly half a century hurt things as well. If you look at everything inside the Beltway it is an economic center

  • @heyvsauce8444
    @heyvsauce8444 Před rokem +103

    Everyone knows old compromises never have gone bad

  • @mikemotter3685
    @mikemotter3685 Před rokem +47

    Tom Scott next year: why these stones are all around DC

    • @beckikennedy12
      @beckikennedy12 Před rokem +1

      OMG that would be so cool! I have one in my backyard basically

    • @krallja
      @krallja Před rokem +2

      they’re actually bricks

  • @petematthews9346
    @petematthews9346 Před rokem +29

    I believe the term is Retrocession, not retrogression. The former means to give back, whereas the latter means to move backewards (hence your pun 😂).

  • @tomthedespoiler
    @tomthedespoiler Před rokem +63

    LOL at 2:17: VA being shown as a sno radar blockers' sign while MD gets the Domino Sugar billboard in Baltimore is highly accurate to the DMV.

    • @insertchannelnamehere8685
      @insertchannelnamehere8685 Před rokem +6

      Yeah, There's a reason PG county has 120 road fatalities every year while Fairfax County has just 40 despite a larger population. The speed enforcement here is no joke.

    • @SkylineFTW97
      @SkylineFTW97 Před rokem +1

      @@insertchannelnamehere8685 It's probably more to do with the roads themselves. I have enough coworkers who live in Fairfax county who have seen all the ways to circumvent the speed enforcement.
      Virginia actually takes care of it's roads. Montgomery and PG county really don't. Just this past Friday, I saw a car flip between Poolesville and Gaithersburg because he hit a nasty bump while trying to avoid hitting a deer at night. The driver only suffered minor injuries, but the car was totaled and it could've easily been worse.
      Another thing to note is that no matter how strict Virginia cops are, they can only react to what they see. Maryland arguably has more speed enforcement in terms of frequency of patrols (this is admittedly anecdotal, but I have been across the Potomac in Fairfax county enough to make a somewhat educated observation), plus Maryland also makes extensive use of speed cameras while Virginia has very, very few. People will always circumvent speed limits some way, the best you can do is account for that in terms of road maintenance.
      Seriously though, Montgomery county roads suck. PG's too. I blew a tire and bent a rim about 4 years ago due to a deep pothole at night along Old Gunpowder road near Laurel, and it took them a YEAR to fix it after I reported it. And I know I wasn't the only one to report it.

    • @HurtsEnd
      @HurtsEnd Před rokem

      @@SkylineFTW97 couldn’t have said this better, especially the cameras in md vs actually speed patrolling in VA

    • @samiam619
      @samiam619 Před rokem +2

      @@SkylineFTW97 We are in Michigan. MD tried to nail my Dad with a speeding ticket once. We sent a letter that said, yes we own a car with that number, but it’s not a 2004 Ford Focus but a 1931 Ford Victoria. Plus my Dad hadn’t been to MD in fifty years plus had been dead for five years! Never heard from them…

  • @mattguey-lee4845
    @mattguey-lee4845 Před rokem +25

    Fun fact I grew up in the South Arlington neighborhood of Fairlington. Behind one of my friend's house there was a mile marker for the Washington DC boundary.

    • @miconis123
      @miconis123 Před rokem

      I forgot about Farlington and misremembered both sides of 395 being Shirlington. I spent a lot of years in Clarendon before all the sky scrapers took over.

    • @MyBelch
      @MyBelch Před 3 měsíci +1

      May be a fact. Decidedly not fun.

  • @davidnotonstinnett
    @davidnotonstinnett Před rokem +54

    Virginia later outlawed cities from absorbing surrounding counties, which was a practice the metropolitan areas did in response to white flight to try and keep their tax base.
    This ultimately hurt the state as a whole because now Richmond and Petersburg can never reach their full economic potential. Richmond is a little tiny city, but if you include the surrounding counties it rounds out to become a much more respectably sized entity.
    Which is all a part of the story of how Virginia went from mother presidents and capital of the south to the one with the Pentagon.

    • @applesyrupgaming
      @applesyrupgaming Před 11 měsíci

      i dont want fairfax and arlington counties to be stolen by a city because sovreignty is needed for the most economically productive counties and not imperialism by evil cities. They outlawed it because city aggression in the hampton roads region had extinguished the counties.

    • @james_giant_peach
      @james_giant_peach Před 3 měsíci

      True, but hey at least they got their land back what did Maryland get?

  • @OrangeDied
    @OrangeDied Před rokem +15

    At least its better than most town borders, which looks like somebody drew a reasonable border with powder then snorted it.

  • @icantthinkofaname8139
    @icantthinkofaname8139 Před rokem +60

    “Wow, let’s see how Sam can stretch a single sentence in a 6-minute video”

  • @xp_studios7804
    @xp_studios7804 Před rokem +64

    "DC East was thriving!" is probably a sentence that nobody has uttered for 150 years

    • @MyBelch
      @MyBelch Před 3 měsíci

      Much like post-apartheid South Africa is much better off than before.

  • @mahadaalvi
    @mahadaalvi Před rokem +36

    0:01 Then why do people still call it “a capital carved out of two different states”? It’s clearly only carved out of Maryland now.

    • @dylanf3108
      @dylanf3108 Před rokem +11

      We don’t want them. Most MD residents would vote against it.

    • @bandzdmv
      @bandzdmv Před rokem +1

      @@dylanf3108 doubt it. Do you know the economic value of DC? Billions

    • @dylanf3108
      @dylanf3108 Před rokem +3

      @@bandzdmv And that was your first mistake right there. You didn’t consider the social and cultural implications and made it seem as though most cared about the economics.

    • @toahero5925
      @toahero5925 Před rokem +2

      @@dylanf3108 Can confirm. Rural Illinois residents would give anything to kick Chicago out of their state.

    • @MasonGreenWeed
      @MasonGreenWeed Před rokem +1

      I think large enough city like Chicago or NY should be made their own City-states like Bristol or Frankfurt

  • @yellowlarch
    @yellowlarch Před rokem +25

    As someone from Washington state, I describe DC as the place I’m not from. “No not *that* Washington, the other one!”

    • @elifuentes7070
      @elifuentes7070 Před rokem +1

      Ah the only state that has to say that it is a state.

    • @krashd
      @krashd Před rokem +4

      Imagine being from Washington, UK then, the Washington family's ancestral estate. American tourists who stumble upon it often enquire as to why we Brits named a town after a famous American who "kicked our asses" completely oblivious to the fact that the founding fathers of their nation were British up until 1776 and the more prominent founders (governors, generals, diplomats, etc) came from British nobility and had family and lands here.

    • @elifuentes7070
      @elifuentes7070 Před rokem

      @@krashd when people talk of Washington, they refer to the district, the state or the man himself. Not the podunk British town his ancestors came from.

    • @miconis123
      @miconis123 Před rokem +1

      Working outside of Washington DC for two decades, I never heard a local call it anything but DC or The District.

    • @Ceruleansquid-lo3iv
      @Ceruleansquid-lo3iv Před 3 měsíci

      As someone who moved to a different state, I have to say "no, not that Washington," then I have to say "yes, but no, not by Seattle" and cry a little inside because thats the only city anyone knows about. The amount of people who think it's the capital is kind of insulting.

  • @schris3
    @schris3 Před rokem +5

    4:15 Think about it, slavery cheapened labor costs, so in their minds the cost of leaving would be offset in the long term.

  • @five12man
    @five12man Před rokem +15

    I'm from Alexandria so this is very interesting to me! Also lived all around DC Metro, it's cool but it's incredibly crowded.

    • @zian01000
      @zian01000 Před rokem +1

      So the next side of the river is the united state capital

    • @samiam619
      @samiam619 Před rokem +1

      I’m in upper Lower Michigan. We’re visiting BIL and family over Turkey Day in Chantilly, you ain’t whistling Dixie about TMP! Too many people. A week for good food and I’m ready to go home to Peace and Quiet…

    • @Kraken9911
      @Kraken9911 Před rokem +1

      Lived 3 years in old town Alexandria while I was stationed in DC.
      Most interesting years of my life. Got to see so many things and places I'd end up recognizing in movies often.

    • @five12man
      @five12man Před rokem

      @@Kraken9911 you know about the ice building on the diagonal? Good times, but that town is so different...

  • @Bob1923Dobbs
    @Bob1923Dobbs Před rokem +6

    "Are women real people or just fun, decorative objects you can put in your house?" 🤣

    • @MyBelch
      @MyBelch Před 3 měsíci

      Wimmin are rayciss!

  • @TheRandomguy06
    @TheRandomguy06 Před rokem +13

    I grew up on the border of Alexandria, and an original stone marker was on my street.

    • @SkylineFTW97
      @SkylineFTW97 Před rokem

      I grew up around downtown Silver Spring, near one of them, the one off of East West highway.

    • @rhino5551212
      @rhino5551212 Před rokem

      Me too. Belle View

  • @curlyparmesan
    @curlyparmesan Před rokem +7

    Oof the Amtrak comment. This one was full of heavy hitters, nice.

  • @pummer
    @pummer Před rokem +6

    So basically DC is in the south because racism… and DC is not in the south because racism.

    • @MarloSoBalJr
      @MarloSoBalJr Před rokem +1

      "Perfectly balanced. As all things shall be..."

    • @danielbishop1863
      @danielbishop1863 Před rokem

      It was right on the border during the Civil War.

  • @KevinWindsor1971
    @KevinWindsor1971 Před rokem +6

    The old boundary stones can still be found in Virginia.

  • @Starius65
    @Starius65 Před rokem +40

    Hang on, all this information seems strangely familiar... as if I had seen it on a similar channel a little over a month ago...

    • @snitzer05
      @snitzer05 Před rokem +3

      Wait where did you see a similar video?

    • @MushroomMan64
      @MushroomMan64 Před rokem

      hmm

    • @MichelleD2023
      @MichelleD2023 Před rokem +11

      The RealLifeLore video was a much longer video that addressed potential DC statehood. This is a goofy six minute video about why DC isn’t shaped like a square. Joseph doesn’t own the exclusive rights to all facts about DC, and you can’t claim plagiarism unless Sam lifted his video word for word, which he didn’t. If you’re going to vaguebook and make handwavy accusations about two guys who are friends off of CZcams, try again with more substantial proof.

    • @Starius65
      @Starius65 Před rokem +4

      @@MichelleD2023 hey now I'm not calling plagiarism here, just a... _spooky coincidence..._

  • @Gizmote
    @Gizmote Před rokem +19

    I'm from Arlington and sometimes jokingly refer to it as "the rest of DC's square" or "the least southern part of the South". Also, DC statehood for the win!

    • @EliF-ge5bu
      @EliF-ge5bu Před rokem +1

      Eh that will never happen. Do you think republican states would allow another Democrat stronghold state?

    • @King-kw1mo
      @King-kw1mo Před rokem +1

      Arlington is still shaped like a percent square corner piece, if you join Dc, Arlington and Alexandria together it’s still a perfect square 👀

    • @King-kw1mo
      @King-kw1mo Před rokem +1

      Also the original boundary stones are still up in Va and Md, it’s like 35 out of 40 still standing

    • @applesyrupgaming
      @applesyrupgaming Před 11 měsíci

      ​@@King-kw1mo Alexandria's west end makes it not a square

    • @King-kw1mo
      @King-kw1mo Před 11 měsíci

      @@applesyrupgaming true but the original boundary stones are still in Alexandria currently… Actually 35 out of the 40 original boundary still surrounds Dc… I’ve seen about 10 so far Jones point is my favorite…

  • @archerelms
    @archerelms Před rokem +13

    Sam, I need you to pull a Hank Green and make way more channels so I can watch your channels even more often. Ben and Adam wouldn't have any problem with that, right?

  • @teotab4293
    @teotab4293 Před rokem +35

    This video feels much more savage than usual

    • @relhen30
      @relhen30 Před rokem

      My thoughts exactly.😂

    • @marlonmoncrieffe0728
      @marlonmoncrieffe0728 Před rokem

      Leftists do not like America.
      It is just and always an [insert X here]-ist country.

  • @Scwarzkop
    @Scwarzkop Před rokem +10

    3:23 Washinton County seems like a a cool county to me!!!

    • @AndrewPonti
      @AndrewPonti Před rokem

      It's crazy because there is a Washington County, Maryland already, although I suspect it came in a decade after this..

    • @Scwarzkop
      @Scwarzkop Před rokem

      @@AndrewPonti The highlight was the spelling mistake

  • @nazamroth8427
    @nazamroth8427 Před rokem +16

    "Why DC's Shaped Like That"
    Amusingly rare in the case of the US, the answer is "Historical reasons"

    • @KaitouKaiju
      @KaitouKaiju Před rokem +3

      Not really rare
      The US is one of the few developed countries whose entire history is well documented

    • @nazamroth8427
      @nazamroth8427 Před rokem +2

      @@KaitouKaiju Yeah, because they have so little of it, half of it is still in living memory.

    • @greatsageequaltoheaven8115
      @greatsageequaltoheaven8115 Před rokem

      @@nazamroth8427 Cry more brit.

    • @danielbishop1863
      @danielbishop1863 Před rokem

      @@nazamroth8427 : 123 years is a bit longer than "living memory".

  • @qprx
    @qprx Před rokem +58

    As a non-American, I’ve always wondered why nearly every US state has perfectly square edges.

    • @bababababababa6124
      @bababababababa6124 Před rokem +29

      Yeah looks weird
      Americans were high asf when drawing state borders and just though fck it imma use a ruler

    • @zachryder3150
      @zachryder3150 Před rokem +15

      The reason is because they made them the *F* up!

    • @KitsuneRogue
      @KitsuneRogue Před rokem +18

      I mean when you own it all anyways why bother making them complex?

    • @yeahnoway111
      @yeahnoway111 Před rokem +10

      @@bababababababa6124 But doesnt using a ruler make way more sense than drawing a line by hand that just goes where ever

    • @sokonek1
      @sokonek1 Před rokem +13

      The actual reason is that the US surveyed out the entire country in 1 mile squares, then combined 36 of those into townships six miles by six miles and then kept going up from that.

  • @aidanaverbakh8296
    @aidanaverbakh8296 Před rokem +2

    1:10 got so excited when i recognized MY minneapolis in thr stock footage

  • @TheHylianBatman
    @TheHylianBatman Před rokem +10

    And that decision went on to bother geography nuts for hundreds of years.

  • @kaisercortex4115
    @kaisercortex4115 Před rokem +3

    I only clicked on this video because as a Marylander I yearn to be relevant and this video mentions Maryland.

  • @TheKewlPerson
    @TheKewlPerson Před rokem +4

    Rumor has it, that no one else was in the room where it happened

  • @timothyhart4269
    @timothyhart4269 Před rokem +2

    1:07 stock footage of Minneapolis was an interesting choice

  • @moolikethecow1172
    @moolikethecow1172 Před rokem +5

    Ah yes, my hometown. This is one of my back pocket fun facts 😂

  • @mirzaahmed6589
    @mirzaahmed6589 Před rokem +3

    2:07 sounds like Bir Tawil.

  • @theodoresmith3353
    @theodoresmith3353 Před rokem +3

    I have a $5 amtrak trip coming up. It was BY FAR the cheapest option.

  • @gamespotlive3673
    @gamespotlive3673 Před 11 měsíci +1

    Arlington used to be called Alexandria county. It only changed to Arlington (after the name of the house Robert E. Lee owner there) to create some distinction between it and Alexandria after they split some time later.

  • @jamesbarton1969
    @jamesbarton1969 Před rokem +1

    Alexandrea lack Plantations but they did recognize that growing would be far more profitable that 20,000 in taxes. Not everything was about slavery

  • @mrtank2010
    @mrtank2010 Před rokem +3

    1:27 As a Pennsylvanian it is pronounced lane-kist-er and not lan-cast-er.

  • @hazeldejesus
    @hazeldejesus Před rokem +14

    It’s Lank-ister not Lan-caster. We use the Dutch pronunciation:)

    • @tejaswoman
      @tejaswoman Před rokem

      Interesting. That's also true for the Dallas suburb of the same name, a fact I found out when we were heading to canvass it earlier this year and were cautioned to say correctly.

  • @adrianrafaelmagana804
    @adrianrafaelmagana804 Před rokem +6

    Sam why did to bless us with a clip of someone biking the stone arch bridge in Minneapolis when talking about the Capitol ...I absolutely love it but it's not even the capitol of our state, even though most people do assume Minneapolis is Minnesota's Capitol....anyways i love your work, especially when it has a clip of the city i live in :)

  • @bobbyhamm4865
    @bobbyhamm4865 Před rokem +4

    I still cannot figure out what the 109th word is supposed to be, when I counted I got "the"

    • @davidroddini1512
      @davidroddini1512 Před rokem +1

      I think that the number was slightly off. He mentioned the constitution right around that point (although it was not the 109th word)

    • @AiNaKa
      @AiNaKa Před 3 dny

      @@davidroddini1512 i tried counting 109 words and didnt come up with constitution either. in hindsight though i just realized at 4:58 there's an asterisk in the bottom right clarifying the word is constitution

  • @CarsMutley1995
    @CarsMutley1995 Před rokem +4

    4:38 Has it actually grown exponentially? Or are do you just mean "a lot"?

  • @jonahs92
    @jonahs92 Před rokem +3

    1:33
    1. Texas was not part of the United States during the events covered in this video.
    2. Texas is not a Southern state. This is a common misconception. Texas can be considered either Southwestern or Western.

    • @minutemansam1214
      @minutemansam1214 Před rokem +2

      Texas is considered a southern state.

    • @jonahs92
      @jonahs92 Před rokem +1

      @@minutemansam1214 Nope. You clearly have never been to Texas.

  • @ABomb1972
    @ABomb1972 Před 4 měsíci +1

    There was also the matter of The War of 1812. When the British sailed up the Potomac, Alexandria's citizens asked that they not the city's docks as this was really their only source of revenue. The British agreed and instead went to the District and set fire to it instead. After the War, Congress was vindictive and limited spending to turn Alexandria and the surrounding county, into a forgotten backwater. When Alexandria finally prevailed on Virginia to take them back, Congress basically said good riddance.

    • @mattcat65
      @mattcat65 Před 3 měsíci

      Does anyone know why Congress didn't take back Alexandria and Arlington during or after the Civil War? It would seem to make sense!

  • @jscheunemann
    @jscheunemann Před rokem +18

    Sam, at 1:09 you use a stock city clip for Minneapolis, not DC. I know because the Stone Arch Bridge is a landmark and the skyline from it is my fav spot for photos

    • @samiam619
      @samiam619 Před rokem +1

      Not to mention that DC doesn’t have many grain storage facilities in it…

  • @kestekrafts1580
    @kestekrafts1580 Před rokem +9

    do a video on why maps are oriented with the north upward (or forward if said map is laying on a tabletop)

  • @terrapin6826
    @terrapin6826 Před rokem +7

    You sound kinda like the guy from Wendover.

    • @wesdemers258
      @wesdemers258 Před rokem

      this is their second channel its the same guy

    • @terrapin6826
      @terrapin6826 Před rokem

      @@wesdemers258 yes I know chill it’s a joke

    • @wesdemers258
      @wesdemers258 Před rokem

      @@terrapin6826 never know with people

    • @warriorson7979
      @warriorson7979 Před měsícem +1

      He's also the guy from RealLifeLore...😌

  • @graymonk5972
    @graymonk5972 Před 7 měsíci +3

    i’m from maryland and i’ve lived here almost my whole life and i always was taught DC is a shared by maryland and virgina but never knew what the virginia side was like
    now, at 20 years old i finally know 😭

  • @dcseain
    @dcseain Před rokem +2

    Arlington County was Alexandria County at the time. Alexandria County became Arlington County in 1920.

  • @rbzw4787
    @rbzw4787 Před rokem +1

    YESSSSSSS A HAI VID ABOUT MY HOME

  • @room34
    @room34 Před rokem +6

    Me at 1:06 : Ooh! Minneapolis! But why? Oh well, can't wait to watch the rest of the video. Must post now!

    • @room34
      @room34 Před rokem

      OK, after having watched the rest of the video (except the ad, sorry Sam & Co.), the answer is clear (and predictable): stock footage!

  • @glennhower9265
    @glennhower9265 Před rokem +6

    Okay, granted the Compromise of 1790 does occur after the intermission, however the Constitutional Convention occurs during "Non Stop" BEFORE the intermission. Yes, this is completely pedantic, and yes, I will definitely take the opportunity to be technically correct, Sam!

  • @nicholasbelardo4273
    @nicholasbelardo4273 Před rokem +2

    Almost like ACT in Australia. Although, not "half as square", but does have one side of its border as just a perfect straight line

    • @arwon2227
      @arwon2227 Před rokem +1

      That's a surveying quirk, the borders were to be defined by water catchments so for the rest of the way they follow the ridges of mountains. The two ends of the straight line were two known points, trigonometry stations from which they then mapped out the entire rest of the way.
      It's also going to stop being a single straight line in a few years when a small piece of land is transferred to ACT so they can build a new suburban development spilling out from West Belconnen.

  • @NonTwinBrothers
    @NonTwinBrothers Před rokem +1

    2:28 why did you guys animate the 100 mi² at the side of the square? That makes it looks like a length measurement, which the unit is not.

    • @jsonr
      @jsonr Před rokem

      It's the best place to put it and the average viewer of this channel knows what a square mile is

  • @laurin4405
    @laurin4405 Před rokem +3

    I enjoy the Humor you intersperse within the Educational aspect... Short snippits are easy to understand and retain... Thanks

  • @anneonymous4884
    @anneonymous4884 Před rokem +11

    The "rest of the square" should really be added back since it's all federal offices.

    • @IkeOkerekeNews
      @IkeOkerekeNews Před rokem +1

      Probably not going to happen unless the status of DC changes.

    • @SkylineFTW97
      @SkylineFTW97 Před rokem +2

      Federal offices go well past that on the Maryland side too. There's several large federal campuses well into Montgomery and PG county. For example, the FDA campus in White Oak, the USDA campus in Beltsville, the NASA campus in Greenbelt, and the HHS campus (NIH) in Bethesda. And there's plenty more of them. There's lots of offices too. Like the NRC office between Bethesda and Rockville, the NIST office in Gaithersburg, and the NOAA office in downtown Silver Spring (granted this one is less than 10 minutes walking distance from the DC border).

    • @marmac83
      @marmac83 Před rokem

      If DC absorbed the rest of the square, Virginia would become a red state again.

  • @Blake-jl8lh
    @Blake-jl8lh Před rokem +2

    Let's not forget the North was also still VERY racist they just had the wacky idea that maybe you shouldn't own people. Though they still joined into the human zoo craze later on so I guess they weren't very firm in that belief either...

  • @ilajoie3
    @ilajoie3 Před rokem +2

    I'm too lazy to count the words. What's the 109th word?

  • @parallax_review
    @parallax_review Před rokem +4

    @4:06 retrocession?

  • @noahshowalter9277
    @noahshowalter9277 Před rokem +7

    At 4:07, I’ve always heard that called retrocession. Is retrogression the same thing?

  • @KellyWu04
    @KellyWu04 Před rokem +2

    I didn’t know Factor is owned by Hello Fresh. I thought you jumped ship 😂

  • @captclyde7233
    @captclyde7233 Před rokem +2

    So much for hello fresh

  • @CEOdawg
    @CEOdawg Před rokem +11

    As a DC native, thanks for enlightening me on the finer points as to the why D.C. is the why it is now, as I already knew that it happened.

  • @EatAtJoes
    @EatAtJoes Před rokem +5

    3:55 Not sure why VA would have worried about that, given that MD was also a slave state...

  • @jackielinde7568
    @jackielinde7568 Před rokem +2

    Whoo Hoo!!! Phoenix AZ Represent! (00:19 Although, we're a bit cockeyed in that shot.)

  • @warriorson7979
    @warriorson7979 Před měsícem +1

    Fun fact:
    Lincoln didn't say the "house divided" quote, Jesus did.
    😑🙄😒

  • @typeofguyto
    @typeofguyto Před rokem +4

    To answer the most important question if the video:
    They are indeed just fun decorative objects

    • @alexwalker5716
      @alexwalker5716 Před rokem

      I was gonna report this, but I figured your just trying to be funny (keyword:trying)
      At least I hope this is sarcastic.

    • @typeofguyto
      @typeofguyto Před rokem +1

      @Alex Walker so did you report the video then? you cracked a smile when he made the joke in the video but not when I made the same damn joke in the comments? Makes sense

  • @432leumas
    @432leumas Před rokem +5

    "Snuck isn't a word Conan. And you've been to Harvard and you should know that."

  • @kiosk5595
    @kiosk5595 Před 11 měsíci +1

    Clearly slavery was the prime driver of secession but it’s interesting he brought up how the Virginia side wasn’t allowed to build buildings, especially since Rosslyn is way more developed than DC proper today and has a skyline that overlooks the capitol rather than the other way around

    • @Hibbs4Prez
      @Hibbs4Prez Před 4 měsíci +2

      No one goes to Roslyn and thinks its more developed than DC. The place has an okay downtown that isn't distinguishable from a hundred other small city downtowns in the nation. And DC has Always had a limit on how tall buildings can be and most of us residents prefer it that way. Its part of what makes the city unique.

  • @musicaleuphoria8699
    @musicaleuphoria8699 Před 4 měsíci

    D.C.: Arlington, Alexandria, we have to square.

  • @natenae8635
    @natenae8635 Před rokem +4

    Is it just me that wants DC to be whole again.

    • @breeze9819
      @breeze9819 Před rokem +1

      Anyone from the Virginia side really does not want that to happen

    • @EdgeDC
      @EdgeDC Před rokem +1

      I live in Virginia, and I’d like to see this happen (along with DC statehood, but that’s another matter).
      If nothing else, than to annoy smug Arlingtonians. 😁

  • @TastyChubz
    @TastyChubz Před rokem +4

    What's the 109th word!? I'm to sleepy to count. This was the first video I watched when I woke up

  • @Nytalite
    @Nytalite Před 14 hodinami

    I live in Alexandria, and I can confirm we don’t want to be a part of DC again (especially right now with the out-of-control crime and the sheer incompetence of the DC Council). In fact, in the unlikely event Northern Virginia were to secede from the rest of Virginia, Alexandria is likely to become the new state’s capital due to its history.

  • @joelmiller6105
    @joelmiller6105 Před rokem

    Why does the Constitution stop the House from increasing the size of DC to take back the Virginia portion of DC?

  • @EdgeDC
    @EdgeDC Před rokem +9

    Since the standard way to present maps is having North pointing up, DC is more commonly (and accurately, IMO) referred to as diamond-shaped, not square-shaped.

    • @blue9multimediagroup
      @blue9multimediagroup Před rokem

      Diamonds are longer on 2 sides.
      This was equidistant on each side

    • @EdgeDC
      @EdgeDC Před rokem +3

      @@blue9multimediagroup The only requirement to be defined as a diamond, also known as a rhombus, is that the shape have 4 sides that are the same length. It does not in fact require that they are different lengths on any side - in fact, that is not a diamond at all (strictly speaking).
      Put it this way - a square is a special case of a diamond, but not all diamonds are square.
      The city of Washington D.C. is divided into 4 quadrants, centered on the Capitol - Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, and Northwest - by drawing lines between the corners - lines which run North-South and East-West. Obviously the Southeast quadrant is significantly smaller than the others, due to Arlington being reclaimed by Virginia on the other side of the Potomac.
      In any case, I submit that due to its orientation, and the way that it is divided, DC is more commonly referred to as a diamond (at least, it used to be, with Arlington).
      Think of the bases in baseball - what shape is that area called? A baseball diamond.

  • @CompuBrains27
    @CompuBrains27 Před rokem +11

    Lancaster with two long As is how you pronounce the town outside of Buffalo, NY. The place with the Amish outside of Philly is pronounced "Lan-kiss-ter."
    Also the constitution specifies DC is to be 10 miles squared, not 100 square miles. What's the difference? Well the way the constitution puts it, you can't have a DC that's 1 by 100 miles, whereas that would still be OK the way you said it.

    • @MrKioder
      @MrKioder Před rokem +3

      Two places with the same name in the US, are not only both pronounced differently to each other, the pronounciation is also different to the place in England where the name originates.
      .....

    • @boarbot7829
      @boarbot7829 Před rokem

      We pronounce it with single a which is correct. Lamkisster is ridiculous

  • @Fkidd702
    @Fkidd702 Před rokem +1

    “Americas favorite past
    Time , racism “
    Lmao

  • @biscoito1r
    @biscoito1r Před rokem +13

    DC should just give the land back to Maryland and a new capital should be established in Nebraska. It is in the middle of the country, it would develop the area, residents of DC would finally have their representation.

    • @CEOdawg
      @CEOdawg Před rokem +4

      As a DC native, I am totally not with that. For one thing, Maryland doesn't want us back. Two, the identity of DC, Alexandria and Arlington, and the three Maryland counties are the DC Metro area. While having a Congresswoman that could vote on the floor would be nice, what about the Senators that we, a city with 700,000, should have as we have been, basically governing ourselves for over 100 years. The city itself has so much Federal land mixed in that Real Life Lore actually did a 20-minute video on why DC wants Statehood and what's holding that up.

    • @d00vinator
      @d00vinator Před rokem

      AND there's no swamp in Nebraska!

  • @scottgoebl6194
    @scottgoebl6194 Před rokem +3

    Love it. Don’t hold back. 😊

  • @TheTexas1994
    @TheTexas1994 Před rokem

    3:38 So the Federal government essentially begged the Virginia portion to not be part of D.C. anymore

  • @howiehall4622
    @howiehall4622 Před 3 měsíci

    Hold on a second, at 1:32 - Texas was not an Original 13 Colony.

  • @mister_i9245
    @mister_i9245 Před rokem +7

    Its called retrocession not retrogression

  • @andrefreeman7025
    @andrefreeman7025 Před rokem +7

    1:00 The reason for creating D.C. was reasonable concerns of state jurisdiction over the federal government. If that district were in some state, or even self-become a state it would have devastating aftermath on the independence of the federal government. Imagine if congress, the senate, and the white house were under the jurisdiction of California or Texas. That district is for the federal government body, not for a permanent resident. This small district is not a state for a very good reason.

    • @adammoldover8769
      @adammoldover8769 Před rokem +2

      I think if DC becomes a state, the federal government buildings would remain in their own jurisdiction. Correct me if I'm wrong

    • @minutemansam1214
      @minutemansam1214 Před rokem

      @@adammoldover8769 You are right.

    • @smooooth_
      @smooooth_ Před rokem +2

      DC statehood legislation proposed has excluded the section of the city that contains federal buildings. This fear is antiquated and imaginary

    • @andrefreeman7025
      @andrefreeman7025 Před rokem

      @@adammoldover8769 Those who found that districk and separate it from Maryland was not worry about the buildins itself, but they was worry about the goverment body, thats means the whole district.

    • @arwon2227
      @arwon2227 Před rokem +2

      It's funny how little this ended up mattering in every federation that formed after the US and which had capitals where people had voting rights and representation.

  • @w41duvernay
    @w41duvernay Před 3 měsíci

    It is a good thing the Virginia side of the land wasn't used by DC. The Federal Government had serious problems trying to protect DC from Confederacy. Richmond and DC were only 250 miles apart during the Civil War.

  • @greenfrog8871
    @greenfrog8871 Před rokem

    when it is tipped to the side like that it is a diamond

  • @deleted-something
    @deleted-something Před rokem +5

    I love how Virginia couldn't accept that lol

  • @JeremyWS
    @JeremyWS Před rokem +4

    Fun fact: Washington, D.C. legally can't become a state. There is actually a law that says that the capital of the USA can't reside inside a state. So it would legally not be possible for D.C. to become a state without seriously rewriting our current laws and that is not gonna happen. Our government is too lazy.

  • @CityNaturePig
    @CityNaturePig Před rokem +2

    Now I need to know what the 109th word in the video is...

  • @cmyk8964
    @cmyk8964 Před 9 dny

    TL;DR: Virginia said nvm give it back

  • @thefareplayer2254
    @thefareplayer2254 Před rokem +7

    Everyone in PA: “it’s pronounced ‘LAN-castirr’”

    • @flodnak
      @flodnak Před rokem +1

      LANG-kisstir, thank you very much. At least he got the "ng" part correct. (signed, grew up on Cabbage Hill)

  • @NakedGeep
    @NakedGeep Před rokem +5

    I don’t think “The Room where it happened” is the first song after intermission. That’d be “What’d I miss”