Geography King, out of every geography channel on this site, you are my favorite. The quality of your videos is amazing, and you explain stuff from a non-biased perspective. Keep up the good work!
I'd agree with the non-biased perspective if he wouldn't have said that D.C. is "progressive", but I guess that's just the californian in him speaking :D
Arlington resident here: Northern Virginia is in many ways the economic/political driver of the entire state, with more than 1/3 the state's population. Not all of that is exclusively Arlington/Alexandria, but the region is extremely interconnected - possibly more so to places like Fairfax than even D.C. itself. That Civil War divide at the Potomac is still felt today.
Not due to the civil war divide, just due to not being connected via land. That’s why people in Maryland east of DC more relate to DC than people in Virginia that live west of it
It’s really cool how you encourage thoughtful commentary from your viewers with your non-biased takes. Poring through the Comments sections of your more controversial videos such as this one is the just-as-intellectually-stimulating icing on the cake!
Because then that wouldn't hand the Democrats two more Senators as well as the additional Congressmen. It seems it would be the most logical and the option that is backed by precedent, but you know those pesky politics.
@@bluvida ...for the reason that both areas are progressive and they want to get as much out of this situation as they can. The fact is, in the past DC voters have been able to vote for members of Congress as if DC were part of Maryland. That is what I suggest now.
I think Puerto Ricans are pretty evenly divided between statehood and independence, but none of them are happy with territorial status. It's like seeing someone romantically and you're not totally "together," but they won't just break up with you either. It's the ambivalence that's really eating at the island.
Actually the it’s more divide between Statehood or free Association I live in the island and the Independence movement it’s avitualla really small but people like to say otherwise.
Great video - very informative. A nice follow up to this one might be looking at the history of Alaska and Hawaii attaining statehood, as briefly mentioned at the end. They were also vastly different from one another, but ended up being weird sister states (49th & 50th) admitted to the union within less than a year of each other. Come to think of it, if DC and Puerto Rico were admitted, it would be the most dramatic reversal of the general historical trend of states being admitted from east to west. It would be a little strange to think that the youngest states in the union would also be some of the furthest east.
Great video as always Kyle! Seems like a lot of people on here say that DC should be returned to Maryland like Arlington/Alexandria were returned to Virginia back before the Civil War. I believe its a false equivalency for a couple reasons: 1. Maryland and DC have been separate jurisdictions for 200 years, longer than most states have been around, and they have different governments already set up. Retrocession would require a whole lot of expensive paperwork but the different governments are already set up so statehood is as simple as signing a paper. 2. I think it's important people understand the context of the VA retrocession because it was different. Basically when DC was first planned, all the federal buildings were mandated to be on the east bank (MD side) because it was flatter. Alexandria County, DC was farmland ('Arlington' was the name of a plantation house) and a port town with a big slave market (this is the South after all). They didn't have any federal government stuff at all, and the people felt neglected. Congressmen from Virginia and Maryland went so far as to deny funding for Alexandria's infrastructure so it couldn't compete with ports in their home district. Alexandrians were fed up with this and also concerned that abolitionists in Congress could outlaw slavery in DC, which they did a few years after retrocession. Tl;dr Alexandria back then was a completely different place than DC so the people didn't want to be part of it 3. No one in DC or Maryland supports retrocession. Why would we do something that nobody in the area supports? Source: I currently live in Arlington and have lived in the DMV for most of my life. FWIW I think most Arlingtonians/Alexandrians would support merging into DC now that the economies are integrated, it would just be complicated with logistics like I mentioned in point 1
@@Compucles somehow youtube didn't update my second and third reasons but it's there now. But basically a lot more people live there now and the scope of government has gotten larger since 1830, for better or for worse
2:51 Hey, underneath the key bridge is the boat house that i row at for my highschool (washington liberty). we run from school to the boat house across the key bridge everyday. i guess dc is so small that coincedences like that can happen. also being from arlington, i know that we would vote to join dc.
You just gave me PTSD from about 12 years ago of me trying to return a rental car in Virginia and ending up on the Whitehurst instead of the Key Bridge!
Greetings from DC! Thanks so much for making this video and bringing awareness to statehood. We really see it as a push for democracy and having a voice in our government. DC is an amazing place.
@@scienceisall2632 Have you ever heard of “taxation without representation?“ It’s what people died for so that we can have a democracy for our country.
@@scienceisall2632 As a local, we have no more influence on the feds than other citizens do in the rest of the country. The DC liberal echo-chamber is 100% real, but the locals have no connection to the high ranking politicians (considering the vast majority of them are from somewhere else). While I do not advocate for statehood because it is clearly just being pushed now so there will be another blue state, the people here aren't what push the liberal agenda. The money from a wide variety of corrupt sources is pushing the insanity.
@@stevenreichertart Well, nowadays you at least get to elect the President (and Vice President), and he has to approve most legislation. You also get your say in local taxes by electing local leaders like the mayor. It's only the rare national economic bills with an overridden veto where you can technically claim that.
@@Compucles That's not quite how it works. Here in DC, we have gained some incremental progress toward autonomy and democracy over the years. In 1973, Congress granted DC "Home Rule," and we were able to vote for a mayor and a legislative council. The Congress has the power to override legislation, as they have many times. An override is like any law passed by Congress. We resent senators and representatives from other states telling us what to do. U.S. citizens from other states outside DC would never let that happen to them. And the president doesn't "approve" our legislation. He or she either signs bills from Congress, or vetos them, as usual. And since we're not a state, we have no voting members in Congress, so we have no say on national legislation, yet we are charge federal income tax. Again, no other US citizen would be happy with that, and we're not either.
Kyle , could you rank states on their geographic diversity (landforms, industry, culture). Wyoming and Iowa would seem to be very homogenous geographicaly speaking while states like Illinois, New York, Florida are different worlds as you go from one end to the other. You have mentioned California as being very diverse. I would think it makes the diverse states hard to govern and makes some unhappy people like those in downstate Illinois. Crazy how these states got put together but boundaries had to be set somewhere.
There is a book about that.... pretty dry but informative. How the States Got Their Shape. Some were arbitrary but most were geographic or more likely political (religious control... ie Utah or Maryland's borders)
Also, cultural diversity like most political issues is actually Urban vs. Rural... because Illinois other than that divide is extremely similar....heck it is the second flattest state after Florida... but people think Iowa or Kansas are flat. Nope... drive across Illinois... I51, 55 or 57 or 70, 72, 74... outside Chicago or St. Louis.... flat, flat and no trees until far S IL.
Geography wise I think Wyoming is actually plenty varied. Definitely more than Illinois - only the southern tip provides a rather significant difference from endless flat corn fields.
@@vuchaser99 I read that. A great book. I am more interested in how those boundaries created some real contrasts within the states. Upstate NY very different that NYC. Western PA different that SE Pennsylvania. Eastern Oregon more like Idaho than West Coast Oregon.
@@bundevsawhney7578 I'm not referring to the physical greography but instead the cultural - probably more rural vs urban within states. Also, think Northern Florida which is more "Southern" while SE Florida may feel like transplanted NYC mixed with Cuba. I find these differences very interesting. I lived in Charlottesville VA and was told by some Virginians that it was too "Northern", not to mention the DC area of VA.
Why shouldn't the rest of DC become part of Maryland, rather than it's own state, since it's so small? I think that area (excluding the "federal zone") should be part of a state, but it's not self evident that it should be a new state in my opinion.
Maryland and DC have been separate jurisdictions for 200 years, merging would require all kinds of bureaucratic logistical costs but DC already has separate stuff set up so all it would take is signing the paper
As an Army man, I can't begin to tell you the amount of soldiers I have met from DC and Puerto Rico. It's time they get equal representation with statehood and it's time they bring their voices to our government in the most authentic way possible!
Hey GK, I was wondering if you were going to continue the geographic profiles for states. I would be excited for Utah since it has many national parks and is known for its beauty. Anyways thanks for your great channel👍
Great description I’m from Puerto Rico. Also, I am thinking to change my major concentration to geography you change my perspective to view geography. Thank you!
I think it's funny how a lot of folks make that comment. My arms are actually sitting on the armrest of my chair but because you can't see the chair it looks like I'm standing still, which would certainly be weird. But I assure you my arms move!
Depends on who's in power, from what I have seen alot of Northern Virginians hate being part of the rest of Virginia. A lot of Southwest Virginia don't what them became they don't like that they always outvote them. However Richmond definitely wants to keep the area. It really does depend on who is in power at the time and if the different areas with different political views are will to work together. P.S. I don't think Washington democrats would support this either because Virginia would become a right leaning swing state vs it's safe blue status it has now with NOVA.
I currently live in Arlington, VA and it's an interesting idea about Arlington and Alexandria voting to rejoin DC but I doubt the state of Virginia would allow it. A huge part of the state's economy is centered around the DC region. I also don't think it would work for DC to become part of Maryland because from my understanding, people living in DC don't want to become part of MD and people in Maryland don't want to take on DC's population.
I live in MD, I don't know that people here are opposed to Washington rejoining the state. It would probably just be one extra congressman. It's the easiest fix to all this if indeed the status quo must change.
Maybe solve the problem by assigning DC residents as congressional voters in either the adjacent maryland or Virginia districts. They also get to pick which state they vote for senator in. Thoughts?
Being from Arlington, I don't think we would vote to join DC, but it's kind irrelevant since Virginia would never let us go. They need our tax revenue, especially with Amazon moving in.
As someone from the MD side of the DMV, I was kinda baffled by that proposal too. I feel like that part of NOVA is too important to VA for it to be ceded back to DC. Plus, DC’s big enough to be considered a state anyway. It’ll probably even surpass Alaska within the next decade
Agreed that party politics shouldn’t determine whether or not a territory becomes a state. I’d happily welcome DC and PR to the union to make 52 all flying the red, white and blue! 🇺🇸
@@BillDotree A fair point you are making. Some of the ignoramus' in the comments seem to think that PR would be a strong Democratic state, while it would more likely be some sort of swing state.
Sorry for your lack of info Kyle guy, but statehood has been rejected by the majority of the population in Puerto Rico through plebiscites in our history. And lately endorsement for it has been shown to decrease. Most people reject it one way or another. So you won't find a 50 percent plus one consensus with barely a fourth of residents in favor of being annexed, and you never will: Puerto Rican idiosyncrasy and cultural identity is incompatible with the USA. We had refused, and being rejected too, since 1898! Actually North Americans still do not move here willingly, they can't adapt nor integrate to our society! We're just a vacation spot for them. Trying to change our deeply ingrained Latin-American way of life and thinking, and our more than five centuries Spanish heritage to make way to assimilation has been futile. And that's so good!
I don’t get it. Maybe it’s not my business as an Ohioan, but when I think of Virginia I think of the Old South, tobacco, the Shenandoah valley, etc., not DC. It seems like Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax county, etc. would fit much better in with independent DC than with the rest of Virginia. Maybe it’s just me.
@@snackmanultra7715 just like Jersey and NYC, we’re cool being neighbors but we’re two different places. That Virginia you’re thinking of is long gone my friend.
I do support DC for statehood because I was born in the Georgetown University Hospital there but lived most of my life in Springfield Virginia. It is very hard for that to happen to DC since residents of Arlington and Alexandria are happy to be part of Virginia. DC could just be a part of Maryland or Virginia if it wanted to become a state just like how the Capital of Canada which is Ottawa is part of the province of Ontario
@@slimshadyjr9889 All they need is the additional voting rights. And the ability to manage their own budget. I don’t think there’s really any other perks that come with statehood.
Here in DC, we have gained some incremental progress toward autonomy and democracy over the years. In 1973, Congress granted DC "Home Rule," and we were able to vote for a mayor and a legislative council. The Congress has the power to override legislation, as they have many times. An override is like any law passed by Congress. We resent senators and representatives from other states telling us what to do. U.S. citizens from other states outside DC would never let that happen to them. And since we're not a state, we have no voting members in Congress, so we have no say on national legislation, yet we are charged federal income tax. Again, no other US citizen would be happy with that, and we're not either.
Gonna be honest. I love this channel, and I'm really enjoying the mix of stuff that's been going up as of late. I can't wait to see what you post next. But as far as Washington D.C and Puerto Rico getting their statehood, I mean let's be honest considering how things have been going in the U.S especially recently why bother. Lol.
@@bruno8401 why would our other territories damage America?? If our fellow Americans Americans living in our territories want to be equal like the rest of us they should be. Guam American Samoa, CNMI, PR, and the USVI each have a right to vote for statehood. And if statehood wins, our fellow Americans should be recognised as full fellow Americans. Also with DC the representation is mainly for Congressional voting representation. As I Democrat I honestly don’t care whether if these possible future states are Blue or Red , as long as they are Equal to the rest of us I’m happy.
@@bruno8401 being an empire already damages the value of the United States. As long as these fellow Americans are not allowed to exercise their full constitutional rights, the value of America still needs to be improved upon.
Great vid, GK! I, too, support D.C. and P.R. admission to the US. I really do hate that everything now comes down to politics - people don't matter since we're viewed by politicians as nothing more than a vote. Thanks for bringing up this issue.
Couple questions as a non-American: 1: Why is the "yes" vote in PR so low? Only 53% want statehood? They're already part of the US- so what's the downside to going full statehood? 2: Why not carve out the "federal city" like in the Douglass plan and then just fold the rest of DC back into Maryland as opposed to essentially giving statehood to a city? Great video, I'm glad you addressed the political shit- even I knew the reason DC keeps getting pushed back is that the GOP is afraid of them. Didn't realize PR was so right-leaning though; I assumed the reason they're stuck in territorial limbo was the same reason as DC.
1: While this isn't the only reason, as far as I know, independence is a pretty big draw. Same as Hawaii. I'm not American either. I'm Canadian. But I wholeheartedly understand people in both Hawaii and Puerto Rico who want independence. If the war of 1812 went differently, I could be living in the biggest "Puerto Rico" of all. If Canada were a collection of territories over the past 1-2 hundred years, I'd probably be clamoring for independence too. EDIT: 2: Agreed.
@@K1ddkanuck So you figure the "no" votes think that as long as they don't become a full state, independence as a separate country is still on the table? That tracks. I didn't think about that. Course, I don't think it's very likely: first of all getting America to relinquish territory is, well, not impossible but not likely, and then you'd have to get half the population of PR on board with no longer having the support that being part of the US provides. Which, for an island in the middle of where all the damn hurricanes hit, imo would be stupid. You know, in theory. In practice when that support turns out to be Donald Trump showing up and throwing rolls of paper towels into the crowd then denying the situation is as bad as it really is, makes you question how much of a benefit that "support" really is.
Puerto Rico yes. DC? Just have the civil areas of DC absorbed into Maryland. Their is precedence for this in the portion of the District being absorbed into Virginia. There is another reason why I'm not in favor of making DC a state. This opens the door wide open for certain metropolitan areas to split into their own state or multiple states. This may be fair from a representational viewpoint (the old California vs Wyoming or what ever is the smallest state). The problem I have with this is one political party may use this as a means to turn the US into a One Party State for all practical purposes. As it stands now that would be the Democrats. I would say the same thing if it was the Republicans, the Greens or any other party. If say New York City split off from New York State you could potentially have three new states at a minimum. Long Island including Brooklyn and Queens. Manhattan which could include the Saten Island portion along with The Bronx being seperate or with Staten Island. Just think of the jusdictional mess.
There has been support for NYC, all it's Burroughs, and Long Island breaking away from New York to become the state of Long Island. Their reasoning is that they bring in the overwhelming majority of the income for the state, yet don't have much of a say of what goes on, because the capitol is in Albany. A book called Plunkitt of Tammany Hall discussed this matter, and the statesman whom the book was about, was from the 1800s so this problem has been around for awhile.
@@ethanwood6832 Given the total population of New York State. And just what the percentage of that is NYC plus Long Island. And that NYC and Long Ialand are most likely solidly Democrat I would expect that they pretty much hold the reins in Albany. Similiar to the way Chicago rules in Springfield. In Illinois Downstate pretty much means down your throat and in New York Upstate probably means up yours. Really any state with one major city or urban area and the rest pretty much smaller cities and towns with less population is going to see the same thing. If we see any states having sections succeeding in the future I think it's more likely that it will be urban areas leaving the poorer sections of their states to fend for their own. We could wind up with a bunch of embittered West Virginias.
@@dvferyance started out in VA, became Alexandria DC upon creation of Washington DC, and then went back to VA. Point is, Georgetown and Alexandria were both independent cities that were annexed into DC.
With the House of Representatives held to 435 members, would the added population of DC and Puerto Rico be enough to alter the number of representatives in any of the current 50 states?
@@GeographyKing also The senate would also gain two new senators for each new state. I would love to see other videos of the other American territories if you would like to do that.
Loved it. Hope they can get statehood and proper representation despite corrupt politicians only rooting for their own side instead of everyone as a whole
Correct me if I'm wrong: The Constitution lays out DC's role and you'd need a Constitutional Amendment to change that if you want statehood. Which is likely never to happen. But P.R. statehood movement isn't bogged down by that and would more likely succeed.
Completely agree. To amend the Constitution you need a supermajority of Congress and 2/3 of the state delegation to agree to it, and considering how divided we are it’s never going to happen.
Politics are not the only reason DC isn’t a state yet. It was never meant to be one and shouldn’t be. It’s economy and everything there is based on wealthy people who live in the suburbs of Maryland and Virginia. It would also be the most unequal state in the country because there are mostly impoverished people and a small group of super wealthy. Adding Puerto Rico shouldn’t happen either. Solid video, I just don’t think any states will be added again
As someone who was born and raised in DC: please, please, PLEASE give us statehood! Either that or let us stop paying taxes ;) Also... if people could please stop suggesting we become a part of MD (or worse, VA). There are many, many, reasons that wouldn't work, especially because neither VA or MD would accept that as they don't want DC. End taxation without representation! (edit: thank you SO MUCH for that extra bit at the end. statehood isn't some kind of political power play, we just want the same rights as everybody else.)
DC wasn't intended to become a state. He will conflict state and federal power. DC is too small. If y'all want to vote, join MD or VA. This is like making military bases part of states
@@surezed842 ah my (least) favorite, the "just move" argument. there are many issues with that but I'll put it like this: should the original colonists have just moved back to England if they wanted representation so bad?
Why not restrict DC to just the small federal area/National Mall as you said and then return the other surrounding areas to Maryland and Virginia? Seems easier than a whole new state. That and 50 +1 stars on the flag wouldn't look the best ...
I agree that Kyle should have included the option of giving back to Maryland everything except the 2 square mile DC area you marked in the map at 4:12 in the video. You could then easily pass legislation in line with the "District of Columbia retrocession" which resulted in Virginia getting back their territory in 1847. Because of how Virginia got back their territory, you could argue that there is a historical precedence in solving the issue in this way. I am sure the Republicans would agree, and all the voters in the DC area will have full democratic representation through the state of Maryland. The Democrat might not agree with that approach, since the state would not get the two additional senators, but you could not argue that such solution would not give democratic representation for the citizens. There are always several different and fully acceptable ways of solving these kind of issues. You should not only present the popular option of the mainstream media, which tend to agree politically with only one of the two major parties of the US.
@@iandms1160 I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s only politically motivated. Looking at a map it may make sense for MD to annex DC, but the two entities have been separate for so long that it would be much more difficult to merge the two than give DC statehood. DC residents have no desire to be beholden to the Maryland government and Maryland residents likely do not want DC issues to overshadow their own within state government. This suggestion is similar to suggesting that Massachusetts re-annex Maine or annex Rhode Island, at this point in history that just wouldn’t make sense.
Kyle, you are the best. Even as a Canadian, your videos are consistently some of the ones on TH-cam I enjoy the most. I wish the border were able to be open, because whenever you're in Toronto again (and the world is back to normal) I would love to buy you a drink or three and pick your brain. Until then, please stay safe and continue making this awesome content!!
Thank you! Hopefully I'll get a chance to be back in Toronto this year. I'm going to be in Maine in August, then driving to Detroit. We'll see how the border is in a few months but I'm at least hopeful that I'd be able to drive through QC and ON to get there.
@@GeographyKing Oh man I hope so! To be honest, it is probably going to depend on how our own vaccine rollout goes down, which as you might have heard isnt going down great at present. I'm not gonna lie, I'm not sure how private messaging works on youtube, and I dont use social media, but I mean it when it comes to those drinks! If theres a way we can make that happen, I'd be damn delighted!
Would the DC residents consider becoming part of Virginia? Maybe carve out the actual federal area, and the residents could join an existing state. Is there a reason that wouldn't work or is not a desirable solution?
The 51- or 52-star flag doesn't become official until the next July 4th. The were probably more upset when my adopted home state of Idaho was given statehood on July 3rd, 1890. The supply of 42-star flags had to all be scrapped for the next day 43-star flags would be the standard. What would be fascinating is how 51 or 52 stars would be arranged.
I wasn't implying that they should have to rejoin, just being curious as to whether there would be any interest in doing so and making DC larger than 8 states instead of 2. But I doubt it would happen.
@@GeographyKing The largest reason they wouldn’t want to, IMO, is political calculus. Alexandria/Arlington are a large part of why VA has gone from red state to blue state within 20 years. If they left, VA would be a swing state again. Thus, DC would add 2 Dem senators but the 2 seats in VA would go from predictably Dem to more of a toss-up. Also, being from the DC area, those two cities identify more with VA than DC. People from the Maryland suburbs in Montgomery County and PG county are more likely to say that they’re “from DC” than people from Northern Virginia, who are more likely to say they’re from Arlington/Alexandria/Fairfax.
@@mattmenzi8809 but the citizens would have a bigger voice in Columbia, than Virginia. People would rather have more say in the government they are paying, than being a smaller minority. Why would you want to drive down I-95 to Richmond, when you could potentially have the capitol building of Columbia right in your own city. If they don't join Columbia, that's a lot of money being spent in construction and jobs, NOT coming to your city.
I lived in Fairfax County for years. Virginia will never allow Fairfax County and Arlington County to leave. The tax revenue that would be lost is unrecoverable. I'm personally for DC statehood, but I don't see it happening.
Gosh, I hope not. In the case of DC, our forefathers wanted the capital of the US to be separate from the states so I don't see a need to change it now.
The problem now with Puerto Rico statehood isn't whether THEY want it, it's the whether the politicians in DC get over their biases & fears. They are worried about new electoral votes being added to the mix that could go against them in elections. It feels corrupt & petty, and Puerto Rico deserves statehood if they want it.
I personally think it's too small. With only 160,000 people it's barely 1/4 of Wyoming's population. Also I don't think there's much interest from Guam or the feds in pursuing statehood.
not enough population. Guam i think has more than american somoa but all of them do not have a population big enough to be a state. The only territory with enough population is Puerto Rico. Any other new states would need to come from within the existing states.(for example CA or TX splitting into a couple states)
Theoretically, you could maybe squeeze a state out of Guam + American Somoa + Micronesia (if you got them to agree to integration with US) That's a pretty long shot though
@@GeographyKing did you know in 1950, Nevada's population was 160,000 and they were the least populous state in the union that census count? Just a thought.
You didn't menton another alternative. What about returning DC back to Maryland, just like what happened on the VA side? The citizens would have representation without having to add new senators.
When you say “I don’t think how people vote has ever influenced whether a state should be created”, I always understood that the Dakotas were created as two states instead of one in order to wring 4 instead of 2 senate votes out of the same conservative population. President Harrison (Rep.) also admitted Montana, Washington, Idaho and Wyoming. In all, 6 states and 12 sympathetic senators … a pretty good day’s work for any President!
Why couldn't the area released from the District just be added back to Maryland? It seems we have precedent for that treatment when the Virginia portion went back to Virginia. The district would then just be the Mall, Capitol, WH, ect., and would then essentially have no population to be disenfranchised without representation.
The President, his/her spouse, and any adult children still living in the White House still wouldn't be able to vote for Congress...well, you did type "essentially...no population."
@@dayviduh If they were only given the choices of becoming part of Maryland versus forever remaining part of the Federal district with no Congressional representation, maybe they would want it.
Why do they not section off the federal buildings like you showed, and the “Douglas Commonwealth” can dissolve into Virginia or Maryland? Wouldn’t that kill two birds with one stone? That would give the people congressional representation, and only non-livable Government buildings and property are left.
Puerto Rico needs to become a state to survive financially and to restore their general social outlook. Times have changed and the following challenges require the priorities to be well established once and for all. The cultural aspects would always evolve, but will never disappear as many have been misled to fear. PR can no longer be or pretend to be strong on its own, especially in times when China and Russia are lurking for weakness all over the world.
@@bundy1867 alternatively, I could say only Republicans with bias want them not to become states. Yes, they can vote for president, but they do not have any state representation.
Do you think, especially if the DC area is reduced to the Mall/White House/Capitol grounds, that the rest of DC be given back to Maryland and Virginia, like Alexandria and Georgetown were given back to Virginia?
Puerto Rico and DC vote in the presidential primaries, actually. What I'd like to see is a greater Hawaii with the Northern Marianas, Midway, and Guam all part of the same state. Your video says Puerto Rico is a territory - it's actually a commonwealth, and this distinction is important.
Puerto Rico is a commonwealth, but it is also still a territory as defined by SCOTUS, also I don’t think GUAM and the CNMI would want to join Hawaii as one state, but would probably prefer their own states or having the Marianas be one state. So yes PR is a commonwealth, but at the same time it is a territory of the US.
It seems more reasonable to give DC back to Maryland. (VA already took their half back). And, although DC has more people than WY or VT, they can't reasonably grow a whole lot more. In 200 years, VT and WY may have 5 million people, but DC could never physically fit that many people. I don't live in DC, so what do I know? I could understand them not wanting to be part of Maryland, but it seems like the most reasonable solution.
The pro statehood people are forced to reason that the disenfranchisement of the civilian population of DC is the reason it should be a state. But DC is a federal district founded to expand the prerogatives of the federal government, not the population. If the people are defined outside the federal district there is no reason to treat them separately from any of the 50 states, and certainly no reason for them to be admitted as a 51st or 52nd state.
@@jongoodwin5936 I would counter this by saying that DC and Maryland have been different entities for 200 years and have evolved as such. DC wants to be a state distinct from Maryland for the same reason Maine wants to be a state distinct from Massachusetts, despite the historical precedence of unification.
Kyle, leaving all of the politics out of it, which I'm struggling to do, it would make the USA a 7-time zone country with the addition of Puerto Rico, as compared to 4 hours for all of Europe, and 5.5 for Canada. Silly, I know, but that's the way my mind works. On another subject, I have to agree with Tech-Support-420 100%.
Because the two are distinct entities the same way any other two states are. Looking at a map, it might make logical sense to give the UP of Michigan to Wisconsin or merge Maine and New Hampshire, but nobody wants that. DC residents do not consider themselves Marylanders.
I think that it is a terrible idea to make Washington DC a state, but I totally agree that residents should have representation in Congress and be able to vote for president. The city of Washington should be annexed by Maryland, just as Alexandria and Arlington are part of Virginia. If the Constitution needs to be amended, then amend it. That should be no more difficult than creating a new state. I would think that Maryland would welcome the increased tax base. I have close personal connections to Puerto Rico, but only through marriages dating back 2 generations. I strongly support statehood for Puerto Rico, but only when a larger majority want it. I'm a relatively new viewer of your channel and very much enjoy the postings. I'm not sure how I missed this episode for as long as I did.
Tbh the most logical thing for DC would be to first carve out the federal buildings (like the map in the video), and then give the rest back to Maryland (like Alexandria & Arlington to Virginia). This would make the most sence out of both a historical and a geographical perspective. I can see republicans accepting this as it wouldn't give the dems any more senators, but I'm not sure dems would accept only a couple of more seats in congress. I know political advantages shouldn't be an issue, but because it's politicians who will make the decision it will become about seats in the houses.
DC wasn’t designed to be its own state. I would support Puerto Rico as a state if we had another state (not DC) to add with it. Maybe the proposed state of Jefferson?
I am a 5th generation Washingtonian but when deciding to buy a home I purposefully decided to buy in the Md. suburbs. Why? because I thought I deserved federal representation. Our country began because colonists were tired of being taxed without representation. The citizens of DC deserve that. DC as a Federal enclave was only created because States Feared that the State in which the Capital existed would apply undue influence. Just Like slave states feared slave rebellions and thus we have the ridiculous idea that anyone can own any kind of assault weapon.
D.C. wasn't designed to be a state really, so I don't think it should be a state. But for Puerto Rico, my opinion is it should either be a state or become independent.
Someone down below said that giving the civil land to Maryland would be the best option, which would make things simpler, however, D.C. may still want to be their own state which would have to be put to a vote. Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands should be combined and made into one new state. (Provided USVI wanted to become a state and be combined with Puerto Rico.)
How come there are a lot of US Maps on TV that are missing the Upper Peninsula of Michigan? Cell phone commercials, Jeep and others. It has happened for years too.
Geography King, out of every geography channel on this site, you are my favorite. The quality of your videos is amazing, and you explain stuff from a non-biased perspective. Keep up the good work!
Thank you! I really appreciate that
What are some other geography channel? This is the only one I know
I'd agree with the non-biased perspective if he wouldn't have said that D.C. is "progressive", but I guess that's just the californian in him speaking :D
Wow , my day just got better when Geo King 👑 posted
Everyone's day got better when Geography King posted
@@tech8222 A pleasant surprise.
Arlington resident here:
Northern Virginia is in many ways the economic/political driver of the entire state, with more than 1/3 the state's population. Not all of that is exclusively Arlington/Alexandria, but the region is extremely interconnected - possibly more so to places like Fairfax than even D.C. itself. That Civil War divide at the Potomac is still felt today.
Not due to the civil war divide, just due to not being connected via land. That’s why people in Maryland east of DC more relate to DC than people in Virginia that live west of it
Dude, please never stop posting videos. I love your vids. They're so well put together, and fun ! 😁
Thank you!
It’s really cool how you encourage thoughtful commentary from your viewers with your non-biased takes. Poring through the Comments sections of your more controversial videos such as this one is the just-as-intellectually-stimulating icing on the cake!
You always bring an interesting and unique take on some heated political subjects. Great video and very informative
You should play some GeoGuessr, btw ur the goat TH-camr
Thank you! GeoGuessr livestream will start soon. Maybe this week. I'll put up a reminder the day before I do.
@@GeographyKing thanks man love the vids
I’ll definitely watch that
@@GeographyKing I'm so excited!! You're the best!
No one ever talks about DC just being absorbed into MD. It must be for good reasons, clearly, but I'm curious why it seems so taboo.
I agree. This seems to make sense as it addresses the points on both sides.
That was literally the first thing I thought of.
Because then that wouldn't hand the Democrats two more Senators as well as the additional Congressmen. It seems it would be the most logical and the option that is backed by precedent, but you know those pesky politics.
It's been out of Maryland longer than Tennessee has been out of NC. And neither the residents of DC nor Maryland favor that solution
@@bluvida ...for the reason that both areas are progressive and they want to get as much out of this situation as they can. The fact is, in the past DC voters have been able to vote for members of Congress as if DC were part of Maryland. That is what I suggest now.
“How about we push the capitol and push it somewhere else” -Patrick Star Reference
Nice video! The 52-star flag at the end was also a nice touch!
@MrXaturn yeah lol I was wondering if I was the only one who noticed that
You’re completely right at the end. People shouldn’t be denied representation in government just because they wont vote for a certain candidate
Your videos are the best! I love every one you upload!
Thank you!
I think Puerto Ricans are pretty evenly divided between statehood and independence, but none of them are happy with territorial status. It's like seeing someone romantically and you're not totally "together," but they won't just break up with you either. It's the ambivalence that's really eating at the island.
Recent surveys show 46% want to maintain the same status (no statehood, no independence, no free association). Thsts far from none.
Actually the it’s more divide between Statehood or free Association I live in the island and the Independence movement it’s avitualla really small but people like to say otherwise.
Actually*
Equally divided between pro Statehood, and pro Colony.
Set puerto rico free
Kyle, I really like your points of view. I learn several new things every time you put out a video. Thank you
Great video - very informative. A nice follow up to this one might be looking at the history of Alaska and Hawaii attaining statehood, as briefly mentioned at the end. They were also vastly different from one another, but ended up being weird sister states (49th & 50th) admitted to the union within less than a year of each other. Come to think of it, if DC and Puerto Rico were admitted, it would be the most dramatic reversal of the general historical trend of states being admitted from east to west. It would be a little strange to think that the youngest states in the union would also be some of the furthest east.
Christopher Cecil, good point. I hadn't thought about it!
-Hey, I want to become a state!
-What do you want to be called?
-Columbia!
-Nah, people will confuse you with the capital. How about Washington?
Great video as always Kyle! Seems like a lot of people on here say that DC should be returned to Maryland like Arlington/Alexandria were returned to Virginia back before the Civil War. I believe its a false equivalency for a couple reasons:
1. Maryland and DC have been separate jurisdictions for 200 years, longer than most states have been around, and they have different governments already set up. Retrocession would require a whole lot of expensive paperwork but the different governments are already set up so statehood is as simple as signing a paper.
2. I think it's important people understand the context of the VA retrocession because it was different. Basically when DC was first planned, all the federal buildings were mandated to be on the east bank (MD side) because it was flatter. Alexandria County, DC was farmland ('Arlington' was the name of a plantation house) and a port town with a big slave market (this is the South after all). They didn't have any federal government stuff at all, and the people felt neglected. Congressmen from Virginia and Maryland went so far as to deny funding for Alexandria's infrastructure so it couldn't compete with ports in their home district. Alexandrians were fed up with this and also concerned that abolitionists in Congress could outlaw slavery in DC, which they did a few years after retrocession. Tl;dr Alexandria back then was a completely different place than DC so the people didn't want to be part of it
3. No one in DC or Maryland supports retrocession. Why would we do something that nobody in the area supports?
Source: I currently live in Arlington and have lived in the DMV for most of my life. FWIW I think most Arlingtonians/Alexandrians would support merging into DC now that the economies are integrated, it would just be complicated with logistics like I mentioned in point 1
So how is that any different from the logistics of returning those 2 areas to Virginia back then?
Meanwhile, what's your 2nd reason?
@@Compucles somehow youtube didn't update my second and third reasons but it's there now. But basically a lot more people live there now and the scope of government has gotten larger since 1830, for better or for worse
2:51 Hey, underneath the key bridge is the boat house that i row at for my highschool (washington liberty). we run from school to the boat house across the key bridge everyday. i guess dc is so small that coincedences like that can happen. also being from arlington, i know that we would vote to join dc.
You just gave me PTSD from about 12 years ago of me trying to return a rental car in Virginia and ending up on the Whitehurst instead of the Key Bridge!
ive been there a few times to go kayaking on the potomac
Go Generals
The river is all in DC. Virginia does not have any of the Potomac! Therefore the Key Bridge is in DC.
@@davidtrask4099 the whole river is in DC?? Really?
Greetings from DC! Thanks so much for making this video and bringing awareness to statehood. We really see it as a push for democracy and having a voice in our government. DC is an amazing place.
You have too much of a voice already by corrupting the federal system with local sentiments. We all know the bs this is about
@@scienceisall2632 Have you ever heard of “taxation without representation?“ It’s what people died for so that we can have a democracy for our country.
@@scienceisall2632 As a local, we have no more influence on the feds than other citizens do in the rest of the country. The DC liberal echo-chamber is 100% real, but the locals have no connection to the high ranking politicians (considering the vast majority of them are from somewhere else). While I do not advocate for statehood because it is clearly just being pushed now so there will be another blue state, the people here aren't what push the liberal agenda. The money from a wide variety of corrupt sources is pushing the insanity.
@@stevenreichertart Well, nowadays you at least get to elect the President (and Vice President), and he has to approve most legislation. You also get your say in local taxes by electing local leaders like the mayor. It's only the rare national economic bills with an overridden veto where you can technically claim that.
@@Compucles That's not quite how it works. Here in DC, we have gained some incremental progress toward autonomy and democracy over the years. In 1973, Congress granted DC "Home Rule," and we were able to vote for a mayor and a legislative council. The Congress has the power to override legislation, as they have many times. An override is like any law passed by Congress. We resent senators and representatives from other states telling us what to do. U.S. citizens from other states outside DC would never let that happen to them. And the president doesn't "approve" our legislation. He or she either signs bills from Congress, or vetos them, as usual. And since we're not a state, we have no voting members in Congress, so we have no say on national legislation, yet we are charge federal income tax. Again, no other US citizen would be happy with that, and we're not either.
Kyle , could you rank states on their geographic diversity (landforms, industry, culture). Wyoming and Iowa would seem to be very homogenous geographicaly speaking while states like Illinois, New York, Florida are different worlds as you go from one end to the other. You have mentioned California as being very diverse. I would think it makes the diverse states hard to govern and makes some unhappy people like those in downstate Illinois. Crazy how these states got put together but boundaries had to be set somewhere.
There is a book about that.... pretty dry but informative. How the States Got Their Shape. Some were arbitrary but most were geographic or more likely political (religious control... ie Utah or Maryland's borders)
Also, cultural diversity like most political issues is actually Urban vs. Rural... because Illinois other than that divide is extremely similar....heck it is the second flattest state after Florida... but people think Iowa or Kansas are flat. Nope... drive across Illinois... I51, 55 or 57 or 70, 72, 74... outside Chicago or St. Louis.... flat, flat and no trees until far S IL.
Geography wise I think Wyoming is actually plenty varied. Definitely more than Illinois - only the southern tip provides a rather significant difference from endless flat corn fields.
@@vuchaser99 I read that. A great book. I am more interested in how those boundaries created some real contrasts within the states. Upstate NY very different that NYC. Western PA different that SE Pennsylvania. Eastern Oregon more like Idaho than West Coast Oregon.
@@bundevsawhney7578 I'm not referring to the physical greography but instead the cultural - probably more rural vs urban within states. Also, think Northern Florida which is more "Southern" while SE Florida may feel like transplanted NYC mixed with Cuba. I find these differences very interesting. I lived in Charlottesville VA and was told by some Virginians that it was too "Northern", not to mention the DC area of VA.
Why shouldn't the rest of DC become part of Maryland, rather than it's own state, since it's so small? I think that area (excluding the "federal zone") should be part of a state, but it's not self evident that it should be a new state in my opinion.
more people live in DC than a few huge states
Neither dc or Maryland wants it and size isn’t a requirement for a state
Totally agree as a former DC resident.
Maryland and DC have been separate jurisdictions for 200 years, merging would require all kinds of bureaucratic logistical costs but DC already has separate stuff set up so all it would take is signing the paper
Virginia got its land back. Why not MD?
As an Army man, I can't begin to tell you the amount of soldiers I have met from DC and Puerto Rico. It's time they get equal representation with statehood and it's time they bring their voices to our government in the most authentic way possible!
No
Those people in Congress represent only themselves and not the people. So, not much would change in terms of representation.
@@theguywhoasked5591 Yes.
@@eugeneb37
Live in your pessimistic bubble while I live in my realist optimistic world.
@@brettlarch8050 I would appreciate you not telling me what to do. If you have such desire, go to your mirror and tell it to the person you see there.
Shoutout to the DK album you've got displayed
I saw DKs in DC at the final 9:30 Club show before the lockdown
I never would have expected him to be into punk! Awesome
Ah I just saw that for the first time. Bedtime For Democracy is an underrated listen
Soup is good food
I had him pegged for an old punk, his vintage fashion was a clue. Then I saw an X Under the Big Black Sun over his shoulder. DKs confirm it
Great video. Thanks for clarifying all this.
Hey GK, I was wondering if you were going to continue the geographic profiles for states. I would be excited for Utah since it has many national parks and is known for its beauty. Anyways thanks for your great channel👍
I'm not sure what state it will be, but my next video will be a state profile.
Yes can’t wait for Utah and Maine
Great description I’m from Puerto Rico. Also, I am thinking to change my major concentration to geography you change my perspective to view geography. Thank you!
Kyle, shrug your shoulders at least once so that I know you're not a robot😁, great videos by the way.
I think it's funny how a lot of folks make that comment. My arms are actually sitting on the armrest of my chair but because you can't see the chair it looks like I'm standing still, which would certainly be weird. But I assure you my arms move!
Digging your videos! Learned a lot from this one, perfect level of detail
Thank you!
It’s a hot topic only because it’s a pathway to four more Democratic U.S. Senate seats.
I love DC , there’s so much to do there.
Thanks for bringing awareness!
No way VA gives its 2 of its richest counties/cities to DC imo
Depends on who's in power, from what I have seen alot of Northern Virginians hate being part of the rest of Virginia. A lot of Southwest Virginia don't what them became they don't like that they always outvote them. However Richmond definitely wants to keep the area. It really does depend on who is in power at the time and if the different areas with different political views are will to work together.
P.S. I don't think Washington democrats would support this either because Virginia would become a right leaning swing state vs it's safe blue status it has now with NOVA.
Fun fact: DC’s license plates have “taxation without representation” on the top
Another great vid Kyle!
I currently live in Arlington, VA and it's an interesting idea about Arlington and Alexandria voting to rejoin DC but I doubt the state of Virginia would allow it. A huge part of the state's economy is centered around the DC region.
I also don't think it would work for DC to become part of Maryland because from my understanding, people living in DC don't want to become part of MD and people in Maryland don't want to take on DC's population.
I live in MD, I don't know that people here are opposed to Washington rejoining the state. It would probably just be one extra congressman. It's the easiest fix to all this if indeed the status quo must change.
Maybe solve the problem by assigning DC residents as congressional voters in either the adjacent maryland or Virginia districts. They also get to pick which state they vote for senator in. Thoughts?
Being from Arlington, I don't think we would vote to join DC, but it's kind irrelevant since Virginia would never let us go. They need our tax revenue, especially with Amazon moving in.
It would be nice to say you are from DC and this be an accurate claim
As someone from the MD side of the DMV, I was kinda baffled by that proposal too. I feel like that part of NOVA is too important to VA for it to be ceded back to DC. Plus, DC’s big enough to be considered a state anyway. It’ll probably even surpass Alaska within the next decade
Love the videos, my man!
Agreed that party politics shouldn’t determine whether or not a territory becomes a state. I’d happily welcome DC and PR to the union to make 52 all flying the red, white and blue! 🇺🇸
Exactly. Just because it doesn't benefit your side should NEVER mean the people shouldn't have representation
@@BillDotree furthermore it likely wouldn't change much as PR would likely be Republican and DC would be Democrat.
@@elil12 I think there's a good chance PR goes blue considering Trump's response to aid, and Republican's disdain of non-english speakers
@@BillDotree A fair point you are making. Some of the ignoramus' in the comments seem to think that PR would be a strong Democratic state, while it would more likely be some sort of swing state.
@@elil12 thank you sir or maam
Sorry for your lack of info Kyle guy, but statehood has been rejected by the majority of the population in Puerto Rico through plebiscites in our history.
And lately endorsement for it has been shown to decrease. Most people reject it one way or another. So you won't find a 50 percent plus one consensus with barely a fourth of residents in favor of being annexed, and you never will: Puerto Rican idiosyncrasy and cultural identity is incompatible with the USA.
We had refused, and being rejected too, since 1898!
Actually North Americans still do not move here willingly, they can't adapt nor integrate to our society! We're just a vacation spot for them.
Trying to change our deeply ingrained Latin-American way of life and thinking, and our more than five centuries Spanish heritage to make way to assimilation has been futile. And that's so good!
Absolutely no one in Alexandria or Arlington would want to be a part of DC. We are happy being Virginia.
I don’t get it. Maybe it’s not my business as an Ohioan, but when I think of Virginia I think of the Old South, tobacco, the Shenandoah valley, etc., not DC. It seems like Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax county, etc. would fit much better in with independent DC than with the rest of Virginia. Maybe it’s just me.
@@snackmanultra7715 just like Jersey and NYC, we’re cool being neighbors but we’re two different places. That Virginia you’re thinking of is long gone my friend.
@@snackmanultra7715 Virginia's quite a different state now, and it voting blue is probably the most symbolic representation of that change.
I do support DC for statehood because I was born in the Georgetown University Hospital there but lived most of my life in Springfield Virginia. It is very hard for that to happen to DC since residents of Arlington and Alexandria are happy to be part of Virginia. DC could just be a part of Maryland or Virginia if it wanted to become a state just like how the Capital of Canada which is Ottawa is part of the province of Ontario
@@slimshadyjr9889 All they need is the additional voting rights. And the ability to manage their own budget. I don’t think there’s really any other perks that come with statehood.
Keep this content coming King!!
Here in DC, we have gained some incremental progress toward autonomy and democracy over the years. In 1973, Congress granted DC "Home Rule," and we were able to vote for a mayor and a legislative council. The Congress has the power to override legislation, as they have many times. An override is like any law passed by Congress. We resent senators and representatives from other states telling us what to do. U.S. citizens from other states outside DC would never let that happen to them. And since we're not a state, we have no voting members in Congress, so we have no say on national legislation, yet we are charged federal income tax. Again, no other US citizen would be happy with that, and we're not either.
Any advice to those thinking about moving to PR for lower COL and tropical weather?
Gonna be honest. I love this channel, and I'm really enjoying the mix of stuff that's been going up as of late. I can't wait to see what you post next. But as far as Washington D.C and Puerto Rico getting their statehood, I mean let's be honest considering how things have been going in the U.S especially recently why bother. Lol.
@@bruno8401 Okay? I don't think you got that my original comment was a joke. Lol.
@@bruno8401 why would our other territories damage America?? If our fellow Americans Americans living in our territories want to be equal like the rest of us they should be. Guam American Samoa, CNMI, PR, and the USVI each have a right to vote for statehood. And if statehood wins, our fellow Americans should be recognised as full fellow Americans. Also with DC the representation is mainly for Congressional voting representation. As I Democrat I honestly don’t care whether if these possible future states are Blue or Red , as long as they are Equal to the rest of us I’m happy.
@@bruno8401 being an empire already damages the value of the United States. As long as these fellow Americans are not allowed to exercise their full constitutional rights, the value of America still needs to be improved upon.
Great vid, GK! I, too, support D.C. and P.R. admission to the US. I really do hate that everything now comes down to politics - people don't matter since we're viewed by politicians as nothing more than a vote. Thanks for bringing up this issue.
my new favorite youtuber
Thank you!
Couple questions as a non-American:
1: Why is the "yes" vote in PR so low? Only 53% want statehood? They're already part of the US- so what's the downside to going full statehood?
2: Why not carve out the "federal city" like in the Douglass plan and then just fold the rest of DC back into Maryland as opposed to essentially giving statehood to a city?
Great video, I'm glad you addressed the political shit- even I knew the reason DC keeps getting pushed back is that the GOP is afraid of them. Didn't realize PR was so right-leaning though; I assumed the reason they're stuck in territorial limbo was the same reason as DC.
1: While this isn't the only reason, as far as I know, independence is a pretty big draw. Same as Hawaii. I'm not American either. I'm Canadian. But I wholeheartedly understand people in both Hawaii and Puerto Rico who want independence. If the war of 1812 went differently, I could be living in the biggest "Puerto Rico" of all. If Canada were a collection of territories over the past 1-2 hundred years, I'd probably be clamoring for independence too.
EDIT: 2: Agreed.
@@K1ddkanuck So you figure the "no" votes think that as long as they don't become a full state, independence as a separate country is still on the table? That tracks. I didn't think about that. Course, I don't think it's very likely: first of all getting America to relinquish territory is, well, not impossible but not likely, and then you'd have to get half the population of PR on board with no longer having the support that being part of the US provides. Which, for an island in the middle of where all the damn hurricanes hit, imo would be stupid. You know, in theory. In practice when that support turns out to be Donald Trump showing up and throwing rolls of paper towels into the crowd then denying the situation is as bad as it really is, makes you question how much of a benefit that "support" really is.
Puerto Rico yes. DC? Just have the civil areas of DC absorbed into Maryland. Their is precedence for this in the portion of the District being absorbed into Virginia.
There is another reason why I'm not in favor of making DC a state. This opens the door wide open for certain metropolitan areas to split into their own state or multiple states. This may be fair from a representational viewpoint (the old California vs Wyoming or what ever is the smallest state). The problem I have with this is one political party may use this as a means to turn the US into a One Party State for all practical purposes. As it stands now that would be the Democrats. I would say the same thing if it was the Republicans, the Greens or any other party.
If say New York City split off from New York State you could potentially have three new states at a minimum. Long Island including Brooklyn and Queens. Manhattan which could include the Saten Island portion along with The Bronx being seperate or with Staten Island. Just think of the jusdictional mess.
There has been support for NYC, all it's Burroughs, and Long Island breaking away from New York to become the state of Long Island. Their reasoning is that they bring in the overwhelming majority of the income for the state, yet don't have much of a say of what goes on, because the capitol is in Albany. A book called Plunkitt of Tammany Hall discussed this matter, and the statesman whom the book was about, was from the 1800s so this problem has been around for awhile.
@@ethanwood6832
Given the total population of New York State. And just what the percentage of that is NYC plus Long Island. And that NYC and Long Ialand are most likely solidly Democrat I would expect that they pretty much hold the reins in Albany. Similiar to the way Chicago rules in Springfield. In Illinois Downstate pretty much means down your throat and in New York Upstate probably means up yours. Really any state with one major city or urban area and the rest pretty much smaller cities and towns with less population is going to see the same thing.
If we see any states having sections succeeding in the future I think it's more likely that it will be urban areas leaving the poorer sections of their states to fend for their own. We could wind up with a bunch of embittered West Virginias.
Doesn't Puerto Rico also not pay Federal Income Tax?
Federal employees in Puerto Rico pay Federal Income Tax. (And Puerto Rican businesses also pay Federal Income Taxes.)
@@JERios-wv8lx but not other citizens, right?
I believe Georgetown was an independent city as well, before Washington annexed it.
@Safwaan Georgetown is now a neighborhood within Washington DC, along the Potomac River on the western side of the District.
Alexandria was also an independent city annexed into DC.
@@davidriccio1983 Nope it's still in Virginia.
@@dvferyance started out in VA, became Alexandria DC upon creation of Washington DC, and then went back to VA. Point is, Georgetown and Alexandria were both independent cities that were annexed into DC.
With the House of Representatives held to 435 members, would the added population of DC and Puerto Rico be enough to alter the number of representatives in any of the current 50 states?
There would be 5 from PR and 5 different large states like NY and PA would lose 1.
@@GeographyKing also The senate would also gain two new senators for each new state. I would love to see other videos of the other American territories if you would like to do that.
You should do a video of each states/Territories oldest city’s
This is important information. Thank you.
Loved it. Hope they can get statehood and proper representation despite corrupt politicians only rooting for their own side instead of everyone as a whole
Correct me if I'm wrong: The Constitution lays out DC's role and you'd need a Constitutional Amendment to change that if you want statehood. Which is likely never to happen. But P.R. statehood movement isn't bogged down by that and would more likely succeed.
Completely agree. To amend the Constitution you need a supermajority of Congress and 2/3 of the state delegation to agree to it, and considering how divided we are it’s never going to happen.
Politics are not the only reason DC isn’t a state yet. It was never meant to be one and shouldn’t be. It’s economy and everything there is based on wealthy people who live in the suburbs of Maryland and Virginia. It would also be the most unequal state in the country because there are mostly impoverished people and a small group of super wealthy. Adding Puerto Rico shouldn’t happen either. Solid video, I just don’t think any states will be added again
I was going to ask about the flag. Did not leave disappointed.
As someone who was born and raised in DC: please, please, PLEASE give us statehood! Either that or let us stop paying taxes ;)
Also... if people could please stop suggesting we become a part of MD (or worse, VA). There are many, many, reasons that wouldn't work, especially because neither VA or MD would accept that as they don't want DC.
End taxation without representation!
(edit: thank you SO MUCH for that extra bit at the end. statehood isn't some kind of political power play, we just want the same rights as everybody else.)
DC wasn't intended to become a state. He will conflict state and federal power. DC is too small. If y'all want to vote, join MD or VA. This is like making military bases part of states
@@surezed842 ah my (least) favorite, the "just move" argument. there are many issues with that but I'll put it like this: should the original colonists have just moved back to England if they wanted representation so bad?
Except instead of a military base it's, you know, a city as big as Boston or Denver.
@@surezed842 too small yet not the smallest population nor gdp/gdp per capita .
@@surezed842 no state is too small
Why not restrict DC to just the small federal area/National Mall as you said and then return the other surrounding areas to Maryland and Virginia? Seems easier than a whole new state. That and 50 +1 stars on the flag wouldn't look the best ...
thats the idea that makes sense, if people do not like that then its purely for shady political reasons
I agree that Kyle should have included the option of giving back to Maryland everything except the 2 square mile DC area you marked in the map at 4:12 in the video. You could then easily pass legislation in line with the "District of Columbia retrocession" which resulted in Virginia getting back their territory in 1847. Because of how Virginia got back their territory, you could argue that there is a historical precedence in solving the issue in this way. I am sure the Republicans would agree, and all the voters in the DC area will have full democratic representation through the state of Maryland. The Democrat might not agree with that approach, since the state would not get the two additional senators, but you could not argue that such solution would not give democratic representation for the citizens. There are always several different and fully acceptable ways of solving these kind of issues. You should not only present the popular option of the mainstream media, which tend to agree politically with only one of the two major parties of the US.
Maryland and DC have rejected the idea.
@@iandms1160 I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s only politically motivated. Looking at a map it may make sense for MD to annex DC, but the two entities have been separate for so long that it would be much more difficult to merge the two than give DC statehood. DC residents have no desire to be beholden to the Maryland government and Maryland residents likely do not want DC issues to overshadow their own within state government. This suggestion is similar to suggesting that Massachusetts re-annex Maine or annex Rhode Island, at this point in history that just wouldn’t make sense.
Kyle, you are the best. Even as a Canadian, your videos are consistently some of the ones on TH-cam I enjoy the most. I wish the border were able to be open, because whenever you're in Toronto again (and the world is back to normal) I would love to buy you a drink or three and pick your brain. Until then, please stay safe and continue making this awesome content!!
Thank you! Hopefully I'll get a chance to be back in Toronto this year. I'm going to be in Maine in August, then driving to Detroit. We'll see how the border is in a few months but I'm at least hopeful that I'd be able to drive through QC and ON to get there.
@@GeographyKing Oh man I hope so! To be honest, it is probably going to depend on how our own vaccine rollout goes down, which as you might have heard isnt going down great at present. I'm not gonna lie, I'm not sure how private messaging works on youtube, and I dont use social media, but I mean it when it comes to those drinks! If theres a way we can make that happen, I'd be damn delighted!
Would the DC residents consider becoming part of Virginia? Maybe carve out the actual federal area, and the residents could join an existing state. Is there a reason that wouldn't work or is not a desirable solution?
The poor guy who has to remake all the flags:
“Goddamn it.”
The 51- or 52-star flag doesn't become official until the next July 4th. The were probably more upset when my adopted home state of Idaho was given statehood on July 3rd, 1890. The supply of 42-star flags had to all be scrapped for the next day 43-star flags would be the standard.
What would be fascinating is how 51 or 52 stars would be arranged.
I remember when we went from 48 to 50 states I wanted to get a new flag with all 50 stars. It was actually pretty cool.
Hello from Fowler CA, a small town on the 99, on your way from Visalia to Fresno.
Hi from Delano!
@@ricardorivera8095 Oh hi! I hope you're doing good in the heat.
Why would Alexandria and Arlington have to rejoin? Doesn’t add that much land.
I wasn't implying that they should have to rejoin, just being curious as to whether there would be any interest in doing so and making DC larger than 8 states instead of 2. But I doubt it would happen.
@@GeographyKing The largest reason they wouldn’t want to, IMO, is political calculus. Alexandria/Arlington are a large part of why VA has gone from red state to blue state within 20 years. If they left, VA would be a swing state again. Thus, DC would add 2 Dem senators but the 2 seats in VA would go from predictably Dem to more of a toss-up.
Also, being from the DC area, those two cities identify more with VA than DC. People from the Maryland suburbs in Montgomery County and PG county are more likely to say that they’re “from DC” than people from Northern Virginia, who are more likely to say they’re from Arlington/Alexandria/Fairfax.
@@mattmenzi8809 but the citizens would have a bigger voice in Columbia, than Virginia. People would rather have more say in the government they are paying, than being a smaller minority. Why would you want to drive down I-95 to Richmond, when you could potentially have the capitol building of Columbia right in your own city. If they don't join Columbia, that's a lot of money being spent in construction and jobs, NOT coming to your city.
What about Guam, VI, American Samoa, and other territories?
I believe they should also become states, making the flag have 56 stars
I lived in Fairfax County for years. Virginia will never allow Fairfax County and Arlington County to leave. The tax revenue that would be lost is unrecoverable. I'm personally for DC statehood, but I don't see it happening.
Gosh, I hope not. In the case of DC, our forefathers wanted the capital of the US to be separate from the states so I don't see a need to change it now.
Which will happen first: D.C. & Puerto Rico are admitted as states, or California splits into multiple states....? 🤔
I dont think Cali will get split at all
dc and puerto rico, texas is more likely
How about the Dakotas combine
That's a real head scratcher 🙄 should be,...wait for it,...whatever the voters want !
@@crazycatswell4684 what difference would that make?
I really enjoy your videos. I am a former pilot. May I suggest you do some videos on flight maps.
I would definitely move to Puerto Rico if it were to become a state
The problem now with Puerto Rico statehood isn't whether THEY want it, it's the whether the politicians in DC get over their biases & fears. They are worried about new electoral votes being added to the mix that could go against them in elections. It feels corrupt & petty, and Puerto Rico deserves statehood if they want it.
Thoughts on Guam as a state?
I personally think it's too small. With only 160,000 people it's barely 1/4 of Wyoming's population. Also I don't think there's much interest from Guam or the feds in pursuing statehood.
not enough population. Guam i think has more than american somoa but all of them do not have a population big enough to be a state. The only territory with enough population is Puerto Rico. Any other new states would need to come from within the existing states.(for example CA or TX splitting into a couple states)
Theoretically, you could maybe squeeze a state out of Guam + American Somoa + Micronesia (if you got them to agree to integration with US) That's a pretty long shot though
@@matthewbadley5063 there was talk of that happening; where all those islands come together to form one unified US. state.
@@GeographyKing did you know in 1950, Nevada's population was 160,000 and they were the least populous state in the union that census count? Just a thought.
You didn't menton another alternative. What about returning DC back to Maryland, just like what happened on the VA side? The citizens would have representation without having to add new senators.
Very well thought out. Great analysis. As a Canadian, I learned a lot from this video. Thanks!
When you say “I don’t think how people vote has ever influenced whether a state should be created”, I always understood that the Dakotas were created as two states instead of one in order to wring 4 instead of 2 senate votes out of the same conservative population. President Harrison (Rep.) also admitted Montana, Washington, Idaho and Wyoming. In all, 6 states and 12 sympathetic senators … a pretty good day’s work for any President!
Why couldn't the area released from the District just be added back to Maryland? It seems we have precedent for that treatment when the Virginia portion went back to Virginia. The district would then just be the Mall, Capitol, WH, ect., and would then essentially have no population to be disenfranchised without representation.
The President, his/her spouse, and any adult children still living in the White House still wouldn't be able to vote for Congress...well, you did type "essentially...no population."
Residents don’t want it
@@dayviduh If they were only given the choices of becoming part of Maryland versus forever remaining part of the Federal district with no Congressional representation, maybe they would want it.
Nice DK record in the background 👏
Why do they not section off the federal buildings like you showed, and the “Douglas Commonwealth” can dissolve into Virginia or Maryland? Wouldn’t that kill two birds with one stone? That would give the people congressional representation, and only non-livable Government buildings and property are left.
Puerto Rico needs to become a state to survive financially and to restore their general social outlook. Times have changed and the following challenges require the priorities to be well established once and for all. The cultural aspects would always evolve, but will never disappear as many have been misled to fear. PR can no longer be or pretend to be strong on its own, especially in times when China and Russia are lurking for weakness all over the world.
Under no circumstances should the District of Columbia become a state. Its independence is critical to lawmaking.
That’s why GK here suggested a federal zone be created around the White House and Capitol. Let the residential area become a state
Excluding the small area explained at the 4:10 mark, why not have the rest of DC annexed into Maryland?
@@bundy1867 alternatively, I could say only Republicans with bias want them not to become states. Yes, they can vote for president, but they do not have any state representation.
Well said Kyle. Politics should never be a reason why someone doesn’t have rights
Goes both ways
@@zyx777zyx rights should never be a reason why people don’t have politics?
Do you think, especially if the DC area is reduced to the Mall/White House/Capitol grounds, that the rest of DC be given back to Maryland and Virginia, like Alexandria and Georgetown were given back to Virginia?
EPIC VIDEO AS ALWAYS!
Puerto Rico and DC vote in the presidential primaries, actually. What I'd like to see is a greater Hawaii with the Northern Marianas, Midway, and Guam all part of the same state. Your video says Puerto Rico is a territory - it's actually a commonwealth, and this distinction is important.
I was going to say, and we already have 4 states that are technically Commonwealths; Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Virginia.
Puerto Rico is a commonwealth, but it is also still a territory as defined by SCOTUS, also I don’t think GUAM and the CNMI would want to join Hawaii as one state, but would probably prefer their own states or having the Marianas be one state. So yes PR is a commonwealth, but at the same time it is a territory of the US.
Guam is big enough it can be it's own state.
@@dvferyance agreed, and same with the CNMI
@@dylanshaffer2184 What is CNMI?
Way to be Kyle! Forget politics, our country was founded on representation!
Love the DK album in the background!
It seems more reasonable to give DC back to Maryland. (VA already took their half back). And, although DC has more people than WY or VT, they can't reasonably grow a whole lot more. In 200 years, VT and WY may have 5 million people, but DC could never physically fit that many people.
I don't live in DC, so what do I know? I could understand them not wanting to be part of Maryland, but it seems like the most reasonable solution.
The pro statehood people are forced to reason that the disenfranchisement of the civilian population of DC is the reason it should be a state. But DC is a federal district founded to expand the prerogatives of the federal government, not the population. If the people are defined outside the federal district there is no reason to treat them separately from any of the 50 states, and certainly no reason for them to be admitted as a 51st or 52nd state.
WY will have 10 Million people in 30 years if we can get Bison Burgers into the fast food chains...the taste!
@@jongoodwin5936 I would counter this by saying that DC and Maryland have been different entities for 200 years and have evolved as such. DC wants to be a state distinct from Maryland for the same reason Maine wants to be a state distinct from Massachusetts, despite the historical precedence of unification.
So if the Federal Zone is shrunk to only the necessary buildings then why not abolish DC and transfer the land back to Maryland
Wow! Very beautiful 52 star United States flag!
Kyle, leaving all of the politics out of it, which I'm struggling to do, it would make the USA a 7-time zone country with the addition of Puerto Rico, as compared to 4 hours for all of Europe, and 5.5 for Canada. Silly, I know, but that's the way my mind works.
On another subject, I have to agree with Tech-Support-420 100%.
DC is surrounded on three sides by Maryland. Why not just become part of Maryland. Logically, this makes sense instead of creating a small state.
Because the two are distinct entities the same way any other two states are. Looking at a map, it might make logical sense to give the UP of Michigan to Wisconsin or merge Maine and New Hampshire, but nobody wants that. DC residents do not consider themselves Marylanders.
I think that it is a terrible idea to make Washington DC a state, but I totally agree that residents should have representation in Congress and be able to vote for president. The city of Washington should be annexed by Maryland, just as Alexandria and Arlington are part of Virginia. If the Constitution needs to be amended, then amend it. That should be no more difficult than creating a new state. I would think that Maryland would welcome the increased tax base. I have close personal connections to Puerto Rico, but only through marriages dating back 2 generations. I strongly support statehood for Puerto Rico, but only when a larger majority want it. I'm a relatively new viewer of your channel and very much enjoy the postings. I'm not sure how I missed this episode for as long as I did.
Could they just make DC just the National Mall and kick everything else into Maryland?
Best option
Maryland and DC are very distinct areas, and residents of DC themselves want statehood over joining Maryland
Tbh the most logical thing for DC would be to first carve out the federal buildings (like the map in the video), and then give the rest back to Maryland (like Alexandria & Arlington to Virginia). This would make the most sence out of both a historical and a geographical perspective. I can see republicans accepting this as it wouldn't give the dems any more senators, but I'm not sure dems would accept only a couple of more seats in congress. I know political advantages shouldn't be an issue, but because it's politicians who will make the decision it will become about seats in the houses.
DC wasn’t designed to be its own state. I would support Puerto Rico as a state if we had another state (not DC) to add with it. Maybe the proposed state of Jefferson?
I am a 5th generation Washingtonian but when deciding to buy a home I purposefully decided to buy in the Md. suburbs. Why? because I thought I deserved federal representation. Our country began because colonists were tired of being taxed without representation. The citizens of DC deserve that.
DC as a Federal enclave was only created because States Feared that the State in which the Capital existed would apply undue influence. Just Like slave states feared slave rebellions and thus we have the ridiculous idea that anyone can own any kind of assault weapon.
Is New Jersey the most densely populated state of all? Have you ever made a video about those types of quirky State stats?
D.C. wasn't designed to be a state really, so I don't think it should be a state. But for Puerto Rico, my opinion is it should either be a state or become independent.
The US wasn't designed to have black citizens or female voters. I'm sure you wouldn't consider that a good argument for going back that system.
@@frigginjerk exactly. People act like this country hasn't had major changes.
Someone down below said that giving the civil land to Maryland would be the best option, which would make things simpler, however, D.C. may still want to be their own state which would have to be put to a vote. Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands should be combined and made into one new state. (Provided USVI wanted to become a state and be combined with Puerto Rico.)
id buy a winter home in PR.
NOTE; You don't need for Puerto Rico to become a State to buy a winter home in the island. Any US Citizen can do that at present!!!!
@@JERios-wv8lx , understood. i would appreciate the comfort of _knowing_ the home is in a U.S. state over being in a territory.
How come there are a lot of US Maps on TV that are missing the Upper Peninsula of Michigan? Cell phone commercials, Jeep and others. It has happened for years too.
maybe it should be a state too!
it sure as heck aint part of michigan phisycly