The History of Washington, D.C.: Promise and Paradox
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The W&M Washington Center is please to welcome Professor Adrienne Petty to Hybrid DC Summer Session!
From its founding, D.C. has been a symbol of democracy. Yet the history of D.C. has been profoundly anti-democratic. For much of the city’s history, D.C. residents had no voice in how the federal and city taxes they paid were spent, lacked the right to vote in presidential elections, and were at the whim of both houses of Congress. Today, district residents continue to be subjected to taxation without representation. This hybrid course will examine the history of D.C.—the city and the capital—from the eve of emancipation to the Free DC Movement of the 1960s. By focusing on the city’s residents, economy, and culture, students will examine how and why Washington the city has so often stood in contradiction to the ideals and promise of Washington the Nation’s Capital, and the political uses of the city as a testing ground for federal policies. I have attached a syllabus from the course on D.C. that I taught last semester. I will send a syllabus for the proposed summer course next week. |
