In the beginning…
Before the Constitution was drafted in 1787, the governing body was called the Continental Congress. This Congress had no permanent home – instead it would meet in different cities, depending on the year.
Knowing that eventually there would be a need for a permanent capital, the drafters of the Constitution gave Congress the power to choose a site for the new capital at some time in the future.
In 1790 Congress was meeting in New York City.
Alexander Hamilton was now Secretary of the Treasury and he was pushing for Congress to pass the Assumption Bill which would allow the Federal government to assume the outstanding debts accumulated by the northern states during the American Revolution.
The Southern states were opposed to Hamilton’s bank plan.
Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson believed a compromise could be reached. He invited Hamilton and his friend, the Virginia Senator James Madison to dinner at his apartments in New York City. Over dinner, they agreed: Hamilton would deliver the necessary votes from the New York State congressional delegation for a southern capital (on the Potomac River), while Madison would round up support from for the southern states for Hamilton’s Assumption Plan. This agreement became known as the Compromise of 1790 and it resulted in Congress passing the Residence Act of 1790.
The Residence Act of 1790:
The Residence Act of 1790 provided for the establishment of a national capital somewhere on the eastern bank of the Potomac River – the exact site to be chosen by President George Washington.
Why on the Potomac? The Potomac River was an acceptable choice for both the northern states and southern states. It was considered the south, but was the northernmost river in the south. And it was thought at the time that the Potomac River would open up western regions of the new country to commerce and trade. The fact that President George Washington had his home on the river was not overlooked.
Why have George Washington choose the location? George Washington knew the river well and believed that the Potomac would become the major commercial route for commerce in this new country.
Choosing the location:
The site George Washington chose was a diamond-shaped area equal to 100 square miles.
Approx. 70 square miles would be taken from Maryland and 30 square miles from Virginia. (Va. later took its portion back.)
This 100 square mile area would be called the Federal District – . It was later renamed District of Columbia, after Christopher Columbus.
The 100 square miles chosen by George Washington included the hamlets of Alexandria (Va.) and Georgetown (Md.). The rest was farmland, woods or marsh.
A capital city would need to be created from scratch. To design this new city, Washington chose a French artist from Paris, Pierre L’Enfant.
What was the Compromise of 1790?
Madison and Jefferson wanted the capital to be in the southern part of the country., but they lacked a majority to pass the measure through Congress. Meanwhile, Hamilton was pushing for Congress to pass the Assumption Bill which would allow the Federal government to assume the outstanding debts accumulated by the northern states during the American Revolution. With the compromise, Hamilton would deliver the necessary votes from the New York State congressional delegation for the Potomac site, while Madison would round up support from for the southern states for Hamilton’s Assumption Plan.