Washington, D.C. Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Founding === [[File:USCapitol1800.jpg|thumb|left|[[United States Congress|Congress]] began assembling in the new [[United States Capitol]] in 1800, after the nation's capital was moved from [[Philadelphia]].]] Several other cities served as the U.S. capital before 1800. [[Philadelphia]] served as the capital [[List of capitals in the United States|on five separate occasions]] during the [[American Revolution]] and its aftermath from May 1775 to July 1776, December 1776 to February 1777, March 1777 to September 1777, July 1778, July 1778 to March 1781, and March 1781 to June 1783. The [[Continental Congress]] was briefly based in five additional locations: [[York, Pennsylvania]], in September 1777; [[Princeton, New Jersey]], in 1783; [[Annapolis, Maryland]], from November 1783 to August 1784; [[Trenton, New Jersey]], from November to December 1784; and [[New York City]] from January 1785 to March 1789. On October 6, 1783, after the capital was forced by the [[Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783]] to move to Princeton, Congress resolved to consider a new location for it.<ref name="JCC120">{{cite journal |url=https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=lljc&fileName=025%2Flljc025.db&recNum=120&itemLink=r%3Fammem%2Fhlaw%3A%40field%28DOCID+%40lit%28jc02530%29%29%230250129&linkText=1 |journal=Journals of the Continental Congress |date=October 1783 |page=647 |title=October 6, 1783 |publisher=[[Library of Congress]]: [[American Memory]] |access-date=January 14, 2022 |archive-date=January 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115011035/https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=lljc&fileName=025%2Flljc025.db&recNum=120&itemLink=r%3Fammem%2Fhlaw%3A%40field%28DOCID+%40lit%28jc02530%29%29%230250129&linkText=1 |url-status=live }}</ref> The following day, [[Elbridge Gerry]] of Massachusetts moved "that buildings for the use of Congress be erected on the banks of the [[Delaware River|Delaware]] near [[Trenton, New Jersey|Trenton]], or of the [[Potomac River|Potomac]], near [[Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)|Georgetown]], provided a suitable district can be procured on one of the rivers as aforesaid, for a federal town".<ref name="JCC127">{{cite journal |url=https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=lljc&fileName=025%2Flljc025.db&recNum=127&itemLink=r%3Fammem%2Fhlaw%3A%40field%28DOCID+%40lit%28jc02530%29%29%230250129&linkText=1 |journal=Journals of the Continental Congress |date=October 1783 |page=654 |title=October 7, 1783 |publisher=[[Library of Congress]]: [[American Memory]] |access-date=January 14, 2022 |archive-date=January 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220114184055/https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=lljc&fileName=025%2Flljc025.db&recNum=127&itemLink=r%3Fammem%2Fhlaw%3A%40field%28DOCID+%40lit%28jc02530%29%29%230250129&linkText=1 |url-status=live }}</ref> In [[Federalist No. 43]], published January 23, 1788, [[James Madison]] argued that the new [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]] would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance and safety.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thomas.loc.gov/home/fedpapers/fed_43.html |title=The Federalist No. 43 |access-date=September 5, 2011 |last=Madison |first=James |work=The Independent Journal |publisher=Library of Congress |archive-date=September 14, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130914085128/http://thomas.loc.gov/home/fedpapers/fed_43.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783 emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security.<ref>{{Cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Q81AAAAIAAJ |title=Centennial History of the City of Washington, D.C. |last1=Crew |first1=Harvey W. |last2=Webb |first2=William Bensing |last3=Wooldridge |first3=John |publisher=United Brethren Publishing House |year=1892 |location=Dayton, OH |page=66 |chapter=IV. Washington Becomes The Capital |access-date=June 16, 2015 |archive-date=November 18, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118202557/https://books.google.com/books?id=5Q81AAAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Article One of the United States Constitution#Section 8: Powers of Congress|Article One, Section Eight]] of the [[Constitution of the United States|U.S. Constitution]] permits the establishment of a "District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html |title=Constitution of the United States |access-date=July 22, 2008 |publisher=[[National Archives and Records Administration]] |archive-date=August 19, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110819235454/http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html |url-status=live }}</ref> However, the constitution does not specify a location for the capital. In the [[Compromise of 1790]], Madison, [[Alexander Hamilton]], and [[Thomas Jefferson]] agreed that the federal government would pay each state's remaining [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] debts in exchange for establishing the new national capital in the [[Southern United States]].<ref name=Crew124>{{cite book |last1=Crew |first1=Harvey W. |last2=Webb |first2=William Bensing |last3=Wooldridge |first3=John |title=Centennial History of the City of Washington, D.C. |publisher=United Brethren Publishing House |year=1892 |location=Dayton, OH |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5Q81AAAAIAAJ |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5Q81AAAAIAAJ/page/n131 124]}}</ref>{{efn|By 1790, the Southern states had largely repaid their overseas debts from the Revolutionary War. The Northern states had not, and wanted the federal government to take over their outstanding liabilities. Southern Congressmen agreed to the plan in return for establishing the new national capital at their preferred site on the Potomac River.<ref name="Crew124" />}} On July 9, 1790, Congress passed the [[Residence Act]], which approved the creation of a national capital on the [[Potomac River]]. Under the Residence Act, the exact location was to be selected by President [[George Washington]], who signed the bill into law on July 16, 1790. Formed from land donated by Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring {{convert|10|mi|km}} on each side and totaling {{convert|100|sqmi|km2|0}}.<ref name=Crew89>{{cite book |last1=Crew |first1=Harvey W. |last2=Webb |first2=William Bensing |last3=Wooldridge |first3=John |title=Centennial History of the City of Washington, D.C. |publisher=United Brethren Publishing House |year=1892 |location=Dayton, OH |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5Q81AAAAIAAJ |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5Q81AAAAIAAJ/page/n96 89]β92}}</ref>{{efn|The Residence Act allowed the President to select a location within Maryland as far east as the [[Anacostia River]]. However, Washington shifted the federal territory's borders to the southeast and rotated them to include [[Alexandria, Virginia|Alexandria]] at the district's southern tip. In 1791, Congress amended the Residence Act to approve the new site, including territory ceded by Virginia.<ref name=Crew89 />}} Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory, the port of [[Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)|Georgetown]], founded in 1751,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/Wash/dc15.htm |title=Georgetown Historic District |access-date=July 5, 2008 |publisher=[[National Park Service]] |archive-date=July 2, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080702044337/http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/wash/dc15.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> and the [[port]] city of [[Alexandria, Virginia]], founded in 1749.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alexandriahistorical.org/history.html |title=Alexandria's History |access-date=April 4, 2009 |publisher=Alexandria Historical Society |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090404012136/http://www.alexandriahistorical.org/history.html |archive-date=April 4, 2009}}</ref> In 1791 and 1792, a team led by [[Andrew Ellicott]], including Ellicott's brothers [[Joseph Ellicott|Joseph]] and [[Benjamin Ellicott|Benjamin]] and African American [[astronomer]] [[Benjamin Banneker]], whose parents had been enslaved, surveyed the borders of the federal district and placed [[boundary markers of the original District of Columbia|boundary stones]] at every mile point; many of these stones are still standing.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bordewich |first=Fergus M. |title=Washington: the making of the American capital |year=2008 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0-06-084238-3 |pages=76β80 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kKKMJ7Rqta8C |access-date=June 16, 2015 |archive-date=September 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905234220/https://books.google.com/books?id=kKKMJ7Rqta8C |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.boundarystones.org/ |title=Boundary Stones of the District of Columbia |publisher=BoundaryStones.org |access-date=May 27, 2008 |archive-date=December 17, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217004724/http://boundarystones.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Both Maryland and Virginia were [[slave states]], and [[Slavery in the District of Columbia|slavery existed]] in the District from its founding. The building of Washington likely relied in significant part on slave labor, and slave receipts have been found for the White House, Capitol Building, and establishment of Georgetown University. The city became an important [[slave market]] and a center of the nation's [[Slave trade in the United States|internal slave trade]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Salentri |first=Mia |date=2020-07-21 |title=How many buildings in DC were built by slaves? |url=https://www.wusa9.com/article/entertainment/television/programs/q-and-a/dc-enslaved-labor-buildings-the-q-and-a/65-05b18bf4-f1db-46e2-8463-e14aa21b550b |access-date=2024-04-12 |work=WUSA |language=en-US |The Q&A}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Davis |first=Damara |year=2010 |title=Slavery and Emancipation in the Nation's Capital |url=https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2010/spring/dcslavery.html# |access-date=2024-04-12 |magazine=Prologue Magazine |publisher=U.S. National Archives |edition=Spring |volume=42 |issue=1}}</ref> After its survey, the new [[federal city]] was constructed on the north bank of the Potomac River, to the east of Georgetown centered on [[Capitol Hill]]. On September 9, 1791, three commissioners overseeing the capital's construction named the city in honor of President Washington. The same day, the federal district was named Columbia, a feminine form of [[Christopher Columbus|Columbus]], which was [[Columbia (personification)|a poetic name for the United States]] commonly used at that time.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Crew |first1=Harvey W. |last2=Webb |first2=William Bensing |last3=Wooldridge |first3=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Q81AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA101 |title=Centennial History of the City of Washington, D.C. |publisher=United Brethren Publishing House |place=Dayton, OH |page=101 |year=1892 |access-date=June 1, 2011 |archive-date=January 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126020434/https://books.google.com/books?id=5Q81AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA101 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Get to Know D.C. |url=http://www.historydc.org/aboutdc.aspx |publisher=Historical Society of Washington, D.C. |access-date=July 11, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100918042009/http://www.historydc.org/aboutdc.aspx |archive-date=September 18, 2010}}</ref> Congress held its first session there on November 17, 1800.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/The_Senate_Moves_to_Washington.htm |title=The Senate Moves to Washington |access-date=July 11, 2008 |date=February 14, 2006 |publisher=[[United States Senate]] |archive-date=July 5, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705105922/https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/The_Senate_Moves_to_Washington.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://ghostsofdc.org/2013/07/24/washington-dc-district-of-columbia/ |title=Why Is Washington, D.C. Called the District of Columbia? |last=Tom |date=July 24, 2013 |website=Ghosts of DC |language=en-US |access-date=February 20, 2019 |archive-date=February 20, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220124034/https://ghostsofdc.org/2013/07/24/washington-dc-district-of-columbia/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Congress passed the [[District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801]], which officially organized the district and placed the entire territory under the [[District of Columbia home rule|exclusive control]] of the federal government. The area within the district was organized into two counties, the [[Washington County, D.C.|County of Washington]] to the east and north of the Potomac and the [[Alexandria County, D.C.|County of Alexandria]] to the west and south.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Crew |first1=Harvey W. |last2=Webb |first2=William Bensing |last3=Wooldridge |first3=John |title=Centennial History of the City of Washington, D.C. |chapter=IV. Permanent Capital Site Selected |publisher=United Brethren Publishing House |year=1892 |location=Dayton, Ohio |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Q81AAAAIAAJ |page=103 |access-date=June 16, 2015 |archive-date=November 18, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118202557/https://books.google.com/books?id=5Q81AAAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> After the Act's passage, citizens in the district were no longer considered residents of Maryland or Virginia, which ended their representation in Congress.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/migrated/poladv/letters/electionlaw/060914testimony_dcvoting.authcheckdam.pdf |title=Statement on the subject of The District of Columbia Fair and Equal Voting Rights Act |access-date=August 10, 2011 |date=September 14, 2006 |publisher=[[American Bar Association]] |archive-date=October 16, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016174336/http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/migrated/poladv/letters/electionlaw/060914testimony_dcvoting.authcheckdam.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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