AH: Same Capital, Same Capitol with 700 or more Congressmen?

Hi, I'm doing an AH that includes all of North America from the North Pole to Panama. And I would like second opinions and how would you do in these cases (the main POD is 1780 and 1810):

Where would the Capital be located? or would Washington DC be like in OTL?

About the Capitol, I plan to keep the same design as in OTL but the difference is that it will have more than 700 congressmen (there would be about 80 and 100 states in 1960-2017 and similar population). I have calculated 1000 congressmen but it could be reduced.

Would it be possible to increase up to 1000 congressmen by modifying the Capitol internally without modifying the exterior or is it not possible?
Or they would have to build a bigger Capitol ?
 
a more geographically central location would be idea at least in terms of overall population as well location, but who want a capital in the middle of Nebraska? Part of why the area in which Washington DC sits was chosen is because of its beauty, likewise a Capital for all of North America would need to be in a central location that is also beautiful and humbling. Colorado Springs.
 
a more geographically central location would be idea at least in terms of overall population as well location, but who want a capital in the middle of Nebraska? Part of why the area in which Washington DC sits was chosen is because of its beauty, likewise a Capital for all of North America would need to be in a central location that is also beautiful and humbling. Colorado Springs.
ok or maybe a city near the coast of the Gulf of Mexico?
 
I actually considered the Texas Gulf Coast, and as much as i love my home state, I can not emphasize just how hot it gets down here. and lets not even talk about the Mosquitoes
 
Yuma, AZ? Relatively central on the continent, is on the Colorado river, not far from the sea, not blocked by mountains, is near the main population centres...
 
a more geographically central location would be idea at least in terms of overall population as well location, but who want a capital in the middle of Nebraska? Part of why the area in which Washington DC sits was chosen is because of its beauty, likewise a Capital for all of North America would need to be in a central location that is also beautiful and humbling. Colorado Springs.
Hardly. It was a compromise in the middle of the country. But in a slaveowning region.
After Washington fell in 1814 to a seaborne attack, there was a serious attempt to move the capital inland, towards the development. Cincinnati on Ohio was a major proposal.
So WI this goes through?
 
The best capital for United North America (or even the United States as it is now) is St. Louis, given its relatively central location, its position on the Mississippi/Missouri River and how close it has been to the center of US population in the past 50 years.
 
and supposing that he stayed in Washington DC and with the same OTL design of the Capitol, what is the maximum number of congressmen he can have? because in my AH ALL North America there are 100 states and there would be 200 senators and about 600 representatives
 
It really depends on which formula you use for the House. At the moment, it doesn’t matter how many states there are, the House is capped. If you were to use the Wyoming Rule, then the House would almost certainly have far more than 600 reps.
 
You could fit a lot more congressmen into the OTL capitol building if it were more a parliament style set up where everyone was crowded in instead of the OTL set up where everybody gets their little spot and plenty of room to move around. Which if there are more Congressman, is likely to happen. In TTL, the Speaker of the House is going to be even more powerful, and individual representatives even less important.
 
The current capitol for the purposes of what we're talking about wasn't constructed until the late 1850s/early 1860s, much later than the POD, so I suppose you could have larger wings.
 
In an ATL I had the original US capital be Staten Island, NY due to a more Northern US (Eastern Canada was a part of the states from the beginning).

But this was mainly for the purposes of the story, well known Loyalists had a lot of their assests seized post-independence ITTL, and Staten Island was full of Loyalists so it was an easy coastal land for the early US government to take.
 
In an ATL I had the original US capital be Staten Island, NY due to a more Northern US (Eastern Canada was a part of the states from the beginning).

But this was mainly for the purposes of the story, well known Loyalists had a lot of their assests seized post-independence ITTL, and Staten Island was full of Loyalists so it was an easy coastal land for the early US government to take.

plus richmond county was functionally a sparse rural area anyway. part of the requirement for the capital was that there already be a functioning port (which is why georgetown/alexandria were included in the potomac site), so the nation's greatest harbor will do well, although i'm not sure what on-island port infrastructure looked like at that time
 
plus richmond county was functionally a sparse rural area anyway. part of the requirement for the capital was that there already be a functioning port (which is why georgetown/alexandria were included in the potomac site), so the nation's greatest harbor will do well, although i'm not sure what on-island port infrastructure looked like at that time

Also, the island is a lot bigger than I would’ve thought.

Modern DC is about 68 square miles. Staten Island is about 58.

I really think it could be a pretty great capital. Plus, it’s far enough from the rest of modern NYC that none of the potential zoning laws for DC would clash with the development of the rest of the city.

Really, this island should belong to New Jersey.
 
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