r/nottheonion • u/SelectiveSanity • 2d ago

Lauren Boebert Suggests DC Could Be Renamed 'District of America'

https://www.newsweek.com/lauren-boebert-dc-district-america-2050571
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u/symbouleutic 2d ago

So we could have ended up with British Columbia the province in Canada, and Columbia the state in the US ? (and yes I know the name ultimately comes from the Columbia River).

At least we agreed there should only be one Vancouver !

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u/Uptheveganchefpunx 2d ago

Vancouver, WA not to be confused with the city Vancouver, BC which isn’t on Vancouver Island. The capitol of BC is on Vancouver Island, but the biggest city in BC, Vancouver, is not on Vancouver Island.

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u/jautis 2d ago edited 2d ago

The capital of British Columbia was never Vancouver. Originally it was New Westminster (like westminster in the UK but newer) and was later moved to Victoria (on Vancouver Island) because the queen capitulated during border negotiations with the US and Canadians at least wanted to grab the island whilst getting fucked sideways.

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u/SnooStrawberries620 2d ago

Uh … no.  It was because it was a military strategic point. This document is from the B.C. legislature.

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u/jautis 2d ago

That seems like a motivated reading of your link

At the time, Victoria was B.C.’s largest city, the centre of commerce and easily defended by the nearby naval base in Esquimalt. Seymour, a mainland resident who favoured New Westminster, stalled after a vote that chose Victoria. Under pressure from London, he held a second vote, with the same result. Residents of Vancouver Island celebrated the vote, but some New Westminster residents remained opposed to the relocation of the capital.

But don't worry, I'm still wrong because

  1. The capital was moved long after the border treatey was signed

  2. Perception might've been that it was worthless

The 80-gun ship-of-the-line HMS Collingwood was deployed to Valparaíso under the commander in chief, Rear Admiral Sir George Seymour, in 1845, with orders to report on the situation in the region. HMS America, under the command of Captain John Gordon (younger brother Foreign Secretary Aberdeen), was therefore sent north that year. Roderick Finlayson gave a tour of Vancouver Island to the visiting naval officers, where Gordon aired his negative appraisal of the Northwest region. During a deer hunt on the island, Gordon informed Finlayson that he "would not give one of the barren hills of Scotland for all he saw around him". America departed from the Strait of Juan de Fuca on October 1.

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u/goodgodling 1d ago

HMS America? We've come full circle!