January 6, 2021, Alleviates Founding Fathers’ Fears of Locating U.S. Capital in a State

By: Miriam Edelman

Today (January 6, 2026) is the five-year anniversary of the insurrection of January 6, 2021. January 6, 2021, is a day that will live in infamy in U.S. history. For the first time, the transition of presidential power was not peaceful. Although the U.S. Capitol was under siege on January 6, democracy prevailed with the assistance of D.C. police, who helped save the day by reinforcing the U.S Capitol Police. The D.C. police’s actions should erase the Founding Fathers’ fears of locating the U.S. Capital in a state.

Philadelphia 1783

The Founding Fathers’ fears were based on an incident in Philadelphia, the then-U.S. capital, over 200 years ago. In June 1783, the U.S. was in debt from the Revolutionary War and struggling to pay soldiers who fought for independence. On June 17^th, soldiers threatened Congress if they were not paid for their war service. After Congress ignored their request, around 400 Continental army soldiers went to Philadelphia, barricaded Congress, and insisted on being paid. John Dickinson, President of the Executive Council of Pennsylvania, listened to requests for protection, but he did not call the Pennsylvania Militia to help with the soldiers. No Members of Congress were injured, but soldiers remained. On June 22^nd, Congress left Philadelphia and made Princeton, New Jersey, the new capital of the U.S.

Not wanting to repeat what happened in Philadelphia, the Founding Fathers decided that the U.S. Capital would be located in a federal city. Article 1, Section, 8, Clause 17 of the U.S. Constitution said:

“To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;–And”

Some Southern states objected to the Northern states’ desire that the capital be in the North. The Compromise of 1790 resulted in a capital on the Potomac River in the South. The Residence Act set a permanent capital and gave President George Washington power to choose the capital’s location.

During the time of the Philadelphia mob, the U.S. was under the Articles of Confederation. States were much stronger and the national government was much weaker than under the current U.S. Constitution. With a much stronger national government and federal preemption over state law, the U.S. should be less concerned about repeating what happened in Philadelphia in 1783. The U.S.'s strong military, ranked as the world’s most powerful in 2024, could also help. 

January 6, 2021

The January 6, 2021, insurrection should quell the Founding Father’s concerns about the location of the nation’s capital in a state. That day, after President Donald Trump and his allies claimed, without evidence, that the 2020 election had been stolen, at least 2,000 rioters broke into the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. The insurrectionists went to the Capitol on January 6^th precisely because it is the date of Congressional certification of the electoral college vote. Rioters assaulted 140 police officers, and seven people died in connection with the insurrection. There was even a noose to kill then-Vice President Mike Pence, who presided over the ceremony certifying the vote in the Electoral College. However, ultimately, the Trump-directed coup was unsuccessful. After lawmakers and Pence fled the Capitol, they were cleared to return. Soon after, Congress certified then-Vice President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory.

Hundreds of D.C.’s police officers helped preserve democracy on January 6^th. On January 26, 2021, MPD's Robert J. Contee, III testified to the House's Appropriations Committee about MPD's involvement on January 6, 2021:

“The mob’s sustained assault on the Capitol precipitated an equally unprecedented response, with then Chief of the Capitol Police Steve Sund issuing an urgent request for MPD to come defend the Capitol. Needless to say, when we received the call for help, MPD responded immediately with several Civil Disturbance Unit Platoons and proceeded to aid Capitol Police in defending the Capitol.”

He also said, “During the height of the incident, approximately 850 MPD members were at the Capitol.” Ultimately, the MPD helped stop the mob. If MPD and others had not come to the rescue, there could have been far different results on January 6^th. 

It is frightening to imagine what could have happened if MPD had not quickly come to the Capitol on January 6^th. Could Members of Congress and then-Vice President Mike Pence have been kidnapped and/or assassinated? Could electoral college votes been burned? Could more of the U.S. Capitol been physically damaged? Would President Trump have remained as President?

Ultimately, the January 6^th insurrection was comparable to what happened in Philadelphia in 1783: protestors came to the U.S. Capitol with a specific goal in mind and caused people to want additional protection. The fact that the January 6^th insurrection was a failure (in that the Congress certified Biden's 2020 Presidential victory) shows that the U.S. could withstand an incident similar to what happened in Philadelphia in 1783. The capital’s police came and most likely would have come if MPD were the police of a new D.C. state. As Senator Ankit Jain remarked, “it was the D.C. police that saved Congress this time! Puts to the lie even more the argument that D.C. becoming a state would be a national security threat to Congress.”

Final Thoughts

Washington, D.C., should be a state. Current efforts to make D.C. a state would create that state and a tiny federal district. If D.C. became a state, technically, the U.S’s capital would still not be in a state. D.C. becoming a state is the best way to end taxation without representation. As the United States became a country after the colonists were taxed but not represented in Parliament, it is nonsensical that the Founding Fathers would want any Americans to be subject to the same taxation without representation for centuries. This stain on U.S. democracy must end once and for all.