Why Washington, D.C. Was Cut In Two In 1846

The map of Washington, D.C. changed drastically overnight after Alexandria left in 1846. The geography of the District shrunk by roughly one-third, so in this video we explore all the reasons why.

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★ NOTE ON SOURCING IN CAPTIONS:
At the end of a sentence with sourcing, something like this will appear:
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1. The Alexandria Retrocession of 1846. Boundary Stones. 07/08/2016 Richard Brownell
2. Proclamation [24 January 1791] By the President of the U. States of America
3. Virginia Places. Cession and Retrocession of the District of Columbia.
4. National Archives. “Editorial Note: Bill to Establish a Government for the Territory…”
5. History Engine. “Retrocession of Alexandria from Washington, D.C. to Become Part…”
6. Alexandria, D.C. alexandria dot gov. Page updated December 2021.
8. WaPo 2011. Why Alexandria Lost Its DC. Patricia Sullivan.
9. "An act to amend 'An Act for Establishing the Temporary…” 1791
10. Britannica. Embargo Act. United States [1807]
11. NPS dot gov “184.5 Miles of Adventure…Chesapeake and Ohio Canal”
12. A Chronological History of the Alexandria Canal (Part II) By Maxine Morgan. 1966.
14. Ending Slavery in the District of Columbia.Emancipation dot DC dot gov. Accessed Oct ‘23
15. September 7 1846 President Polk. Proclamation 48.
16. History and Reminiscences of St. John's Church, Washington, D. C. Alexander B. Hagner
Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C., Vol. 12 (1909), pp. 89-114
17. The Virginia Portion of the District of Columbia. Casselman. Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C., Vol. 12 (1909), pp. 115-141

00:00-01:10 Intro
01:10-3:06 Quest to Jones Point
03:07-06:07 Early Troubles
06:08-10:51 River & War
10:52-12:58 Voting & Slavery
12:59-14:32 Conclusion

This project is supported in part by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Stock video and imagery provided by Getty Images.

[BuenoSuertes]

Today, there are at least two significant national institutions located in Alexandria - Arlington National Cemetery and the Pentagon. Many companies that do a lot of business with the US govt are located on that side of the Potomac. Many people living there commute daily to work in DC. I think if the square had remained to the present, the population would never imagine retrocession as a feasible option. Simply, not enough time had been given for the capital to grow into its allocated space.

[macbuff]

As a DC native who grew up in McLean, Northern Virginia, it's nice to see this segment. Yea, Alexandria always had a different vibe. Oh, I'm also a GMU alumni

[richardcarlson]

From what I was told by a historian as I was touring the area years ago the act to prohibit government buildings in Alexandria was practical, the difficulty to get across the river easily and quickly made it much more practical to keep them on the Maryland side.

[Random_UserName]

The Potomac river is weird cause Maryland owns the whole river... until you get to DC. And then VA all of a sudden owns a part of the river, for like half a second. and then it's Maryland's again.

[PeterPanarchy]

I've loved your videos for 5+ years and this is another great one. Thanks for making this!

[jonathanilardi]

I live in Maryland near the northern boundry marker outside of Silver Spring. I have an original 1845 map framed of the 10 square mile DC. It's amazing that most of Washington county and Alexandria County (now Arlington County and Alexandria city) was undeveloped. That changed. The city of Washington part of Washington county was planned by le entfant (he was never paid for his plan of the city) and yes slavery was the nail in the coffin to Retrocession. Very good job on your research. Interested in meeting you and showing you the original map or talking dc history. Thanks for posting this video!!! 😊

Jonathan

[vinista]

On that final meditation, it’s interesting that today there are people in other parts of Virginia who would love to give Arlington and Alexandria (along with Fairfax, perhaps) back to DC. It’s safe to say that Virginia would be a reliably red state without them.

[gregblau]

Growing up in Maryland outside dc this is something I always wondered about. Makes sense because everyone I've met from Alexandria has some kind of rivalry with Maryland that we don't know about

[irish]

Alexandria County became Arlington in 1920 to avoid confusion with the city of Alexandria

[meawwow]

Wow, I'm from India and i played this video because i always had this curiosity of why DC i shaped that way.
It was a great video❤🎉
Message to Americans from a Social Science Indian nerd-
1. Some Indians like me love the US and the West in general, you have a great and very interesting history.
2. As a fellow democratic citizen I worry sometimes about American politics but I'm 100% sure Americans and democratic values will win always.
3. Don't you give into this local identity thing, bind together always. We Indians learnt this the hard way.
4. I observed in this video that Britishers are global international thieves, they don't differentiate with victims based on race or ethnicity😂. This last point is just a joke

[redsamson]

Alexandria, Virginia functions as the seat for the federal Department of Defense headquarters.

[heronimousbrapson]

Canada's capital, Ottawa, is just another Ontario city; it has never been in a separate capital district. Nevertheless, the Ottawa river forms the provincial boundary with Quebec. Some federal offices are located across the river in that province.

[studentloans]

I think you should put your name back in the channel title like before. Exploring History is a super generic name for modern day YouTube, with 1000s of AI narrated channels with identical names. Your early book reviews was what made me discover your stuff, you have a hell of a knack for that kind of content so it's sad to see your channel's growth slow down because you decided to rebrand with such a generic name

[Taurian_]

I’m a new Washingtonian, and this history is amazing to know! You’ve got me thinking about how I identify. Perhaps I’m romantic or old-fashioned, but I believe I—and everyone in the States—are Americans before anything else. I hope that we stay that way.

[LCCWPresents]

I though the resecession happened closer to 1861, but this is more interesting than I thought.

[zfhwnze]

You can walk up to the SW marker stone. It’s in a little park in the city of Falls Church near Route 66.

[heatherknopp]

The city of Savannah, GA must have taken a hint from Alexandria when it surrendered to Gen'l Sherman during the Civil War, to prevent him from burning it. That was a really interesting video, thank you. As a Virginian, I need to spend more time in Alexandria - it's such a cool place.

[Pwndbythnb]

I like working out around Jones Point Park through the Wilson bridge and around National Harbor

[vincenthuying]

The tendency to shift away from the ’larger’ idea of identity towards the more regional or even local identities is not just an American issue. It can be seen all over the place. Whether it’s the shift away from the European causeway back towards the navel gazing of so-called national identity, or the shift towards regions inside single and multiple nations rediscovering their roots of interaction from before the clear cut national borders and their identities were put in place.

[jakedunnegan]

As a non-native Virginian of over 30 years (my wife and kids are!) - loved this video! Even before moving here from the deep South, I often wondered how the capitol got to the way it was.