USA Capitol: New York City?

As a New Yorker, I happen to think it would have been so cool for the continental congress to do this but alas they decided to build the capital on a swamp in Virgina.

That being said, what if they didnt?

What if Congress voted and decided to have the Capitol of the United States be New York, NY?

What effect would this have?
 
As a New Yorker, I happen to think it would have been so cool for the continental congress to do this but alas they decided to build the capital on a swamp in Virgina.

EXCUSE YOU.

A swamp in MARYLAND, you uneducated PEON.

;) :p :D

I'll get back to this topic. It whets my interest!
 
@UmbricMan: +1 to your sentiments, y'all can have D.C. as far as I'm concerned :p. In all seriousness, it's pretty much all on Maryland's side of the Potomac, although there were chunks in VA that were in the District (they got retroceded to the Commonwealth in 1846 and there's been no success or mainstream interest in reversing that decision since then AFAIK).

As a New Yorker, I happen to think it would have been so cool for the continental congress to do this but alas they decided to build the capital on a swamp in Virgina.

That being said, what if they didnt?

What if Congress voted and decided to have the Capitol of the United States be New York, NY?

What effect would this have?

Part of the problem with this what-if is the historical background behind the Capital's location. Basically, it was the result of a compromise between the northeastern and southern states, wherein the latter would help foot the bills of the former (which they ran up by being the most involved states financially during the Revolution) if the capital city was placed closer to the center of the country. No capital near the Mason-Dixon, no financial assistance for essentially the industrial heartland of the country...not a good thing. The closest OTL saw to a permanent capital that far north was in Columbia, PA (which to be fair is my preferred location of the OTL Capital as we know it).

To wit, I don't think it's possible to make this happen with a post-1789 POD without some seriously bad ju-ju on America's horizon. One way you could maybe have NYC end up the capital is with either the South staying British (see Glen's "Dominion of Southern America" TL for what that may look like), or with a partial-to-total conquest of *Canada counterbalancing Southron influence on the country in general (as well as readjusting just where the north-south boundary could lie).
 
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Fleetmac said almost everything I could. :)

If Canada in in I actually feel Philadelphia would remain the capital, as it's a bit closer to this newfound center of the expanded USA. However, if the USA grabbed East and possibly even West Florida alongside Canada, the Potomac area remains the best center area for a compromise on the capital. Go figure.

I like the idea of New York as capital. It is the biggest city, which is always a plus as capital. It's also an organic city compared to Washington (even if to its credit Washington is finally, if at a snail's pace, becoming a city that lives on past government), and a wonderful natural port and city site as the east coast's best harbor. And it's so huge that becoming capital means that at least the locals will be used to a crowded metro area as in reality, so what's even more people, I figure.

That said... I can only see it happening in a USA that happened to lose the entire south, though - be it a split in 1786 (when the Essex Junto tried to split the North off) or 1861 (the Civil War).
 
Fleetmac said almost everything I could. :)

1) If Canada in in I actually feel Philadelphia would remain the capital, as it's a bit closer to this newfound center of the expanded USA. However, if the USA grabbed East and possibly even West Florida alongside Canada, the Potomac area remains the best center area for a compromise on the capital. Go figure.

2) I like the idea of New York as capital. It is the biggest city, which is always a plus as capital. It's also an organic city compared to Washington (even if to its credit Washington is finally, if at a snail's pace, becoming a city that lives on past government), and a wonderful natural port and city site as the east coast's best harbor. And it's so huge that becoming capital means that at least the locals will be used to a crowded metro area as in reality, so what's even more people, I figure.

3) That said... I can only see it happening in a USA that happened to lose the entire south, though - be it a split in 1786 (when the Essex Junto tried to split the North off) or 1861 (the Civil War).

1) The issue with Philadelphia is that it was revealed as pretty vulnerable to attack by angry ex-militia who weren't paid what they were promised in 1783, let alone an outside power like Britain. Now I'm not saying I disagree with Philly remaining the capital, just that I think a confidence booster (e.g. standing city defenses in peacetime) would be called for if it's to stay there. As far as the "Floridas influencing the Capital's location" notion goes, I think it depends on whether it was a) picked up in conjunction with Canada, or separately, and/or b) depending on how representation in Congress is lain out. It's not like it was substantially more hospitable there than in Canada, or had a huge population base to offset what gains would be made after hypothetically taking Nova Scotia, et. al. I think it could pull the capital further south again if there's been enough time for a population base (and a voter-ship) to build up, but if it's snatched around the same time as OTL I don't think it'll influence much in terms of where to put alt-D.C.

2) I can agree to that; even though I don't care for it, it's got a lot going for it as you pointed out (although I wonder what making NYC the capital would mean for the future of Boston). I would hope that the city's defenses would be bolstered given its accessibility...perhaps a major naval base in Sandy Hook Bay is in the cards?

3) Of course the Civil War option is there, but then again I think it's a concept that's been done to death (even though there are a handful of TLs I do enjoy, they usually seem to end up being unrealistic and/or uninteresting to read). The Essex Junto, though, I've never seen done. The closest thing to it I can recall reading is in "The Lights of Liberty", and even that was a North-South civil war that was more a question of circumstance than anything else.
 
New York would develop very differently, to house the government bureaucracy you would need a very different city and those 20th century skyscrapers would never exist.
 
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