Wikipedia article claims that Washington DC was so named in 1791, whereas George Washington was not just alive but still in office - he was President between 1789 and 1797. Well, were people back then generally ok with this? I mean, he clearly was a great guy, but couldn’t they just do the decent thing of waiting a few decades until after he died?
Why do you think they would have a problem? Why would it be the “decent” thing to wait until he died?
You should see the kind of mourning art people did when Washington died. There’s a whole gallery in the museum at Colonial Williamsburg with just embroidered “oh god I am so sad Washington is dead” pieces.
I am surprised they did not just name it Columbus. I am also surprised one state didn’t have the name Columbia as well. I wonder what Florida was named after, using Columbus would have sure made more sense there too.
Let me note that in 1791, the Territory of Columbia was formed. It included everything in the old boundaries (i.e., the original square that includes land that was later returned to Virginia) and so was larger than the present District of Columbia. There were three cities (or perhaps towns, since they were rather small) within that territory - Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria. It wasn’t until 1871 that the boundaries of Washington were declared to be the same as the boundaries of the District of Columbia:
There are several cities named Columbia, though.
It’s a Spanish word, and I think the Spanish had a low opinion of Columbus by the time the area was first explored even though he sailed under the Spanish flag. According to Wikipedia, Ponce de Leon named Florida for the flowers he saw, and because he landed during the spring season, just after Easter.
Amplifying Marley’s response:
The entire week from Easter Day until the following Sunday was typically celebrated as “the Easter Feast,” hence the sense of the “Pascua Florida” source.
Was the region now known as Washington state ever referred to as Columbia? I always assumed that British Columbia got the adjective “British” to distinguish it from “lower Columbia” or “American Columbia” or something like that, when the area got split between the British and the U.S.
Washington State was originally the Columbia Territory and applied for admission under that name. However, Congress thought it might cause confusion with the District of Columbia, so named it Washington.
Washington was called “Washington City” through the Civil War and beyond.
Washington was the closest thing to a living god the country has ever had. He could easily have been king for life. Naming a mere capital for him was the only thing he would accept, so people were absolutely thrilled to do that. There wasn’t any discussion or real opposition. It’s probably the last, maybe only, thing the country has ever completely agreed upon.
I thought it was the convention everywhere not to name things after people until they were dead. Is that not so in America?
The idea (as I understand it) is to prevent the unseemly scramble of politicians naming things after themselves when in office as self-aggrandisement and free advertising. The honour involved would rapidly be debased if there were not some such convention. And the people who toil anonymously to actually do the work to build the roads/bridges/parks etc tend to get toey if their hard work is yoinked by some main-chancer.
A further reason is to prevent the embarrassment that can occur when late-life indiscretions emerge. Once a person is dead, it is possible to be confident that senility and late life cupidity won’t pop up to embarrass. Even retired people can suddenly discover a passion for holocaust denial, paedophilia, nude bungie-jumping, etc.
There’s something quite amusing about that last line.
Since Columbia was another name for the European colonies of the New World and the adopted name of the Founding Fathers of the USA, naming a state Columbia would have been too confusing. The District of Columbia essentially means the “administrative center of the USA”. Additionally, Columbia is the USA’s version of Britannia, Germania, Helvetia, Hibernia, and Marianne – the feminine national personification of the country.
I think it’s usually the case, at least in Western societies, but there are exceptions. I have a friend who’s been teaching at the Gisèle Lalonde High School in Ottawa for a few years now, and Gisèle Lalonde still isn’t anywhere close to dying.
Another factor was that American republican traditions were very young back in 1791. It would not have seemed surprising to Americans to name a place in honor of a living ruler as that had been the usual practice.
August was named for Augustus when he was still alive. Alexander the Great named Alexandria after himself. Bolivia was named for the still-kicking Simon Bolivar. There’s a bunch of cities in Denmark that are named Frederick-something after a variety of King Fredericks, all living when the towns were either formed or renamed.
Many things were named by white explorers after themselves or patrons. Mt. Everest, Bermuda, Hudson Bay, etc. James Cook named what later became the Cook Islands after a living Lord of the Admiralty, Augustus Hervey.
You mean like Ronald Reagan International Airport, the former Washington National Airport?
Or the dozens of counties named after who was President at the time they were created? There are 30 named for Washington, although obviously many were not so named until after he died. There are probably hundreds of towns, townships, villages, and cities similarly named.
America is a very young and very, very large country. We have millions of things to name. Naming some after a living person, especially a president, is hardly unusual.
Naming things for Washington while he was alive was a no-brainer. It’s only surprising that everything wasn’t renamed Washington.
I’m wondering whether there was any move to actually name the entire country “Columbia” . . . or “The United States of Columbia.”
That’s a pretty recent convention. As has been pointed out, in antiquity and even 200 years ago it was common to name cities and other things after living people. Knoxville, Tennessee was named in 1786 for General Henry Knox, later first Secretary of War, some 20 years before Knox died. The town of Monroe, New York, was named in 1818 for the president at the time, James Monroe, who didn’t die until 1831. I’m sure that hundreds of other examples could easily be found.
There four ships in the colonial navy named after Washington. Also an Adams and a Hancock. Ship naming conventions were looser back then.