A manual on the origin and development of Washington

by H. Paul Caemmerer

ILLUSTRATIONS

	Page
The heart of the Nation’s Capital	[Frontispiece]
Adams Memorial, the	[324]
Anacostia Park, plan of	[160]
Aqueduct Bridge, old	[180]
Arboretum, National, map of	[162]
Arlington Cemetery, Arlington Mansion, and Fort Myer	[308]
Arlington Mansion, reception hall	[310]
Arlington Memorial Bridge	[138]
Arlington Memorial Bridge, architect’s design	[136]
Arlington Memorial Bridge development	[141]
Arlington Memorial Bridge, eagle and fasces	[139]
Arlington Memorial Bridge, eagle and bison head	[137]
Arlington National Cemetery—Memorial Amphitheater	[312]
Arlington National Cemetery—Maine Monument and the Memorial Amphitheater	[316]
Arlington, plan for development of greater	[142]
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Station, old	[73]
Boundary stone near Sixteenth Street NW.	[19]
Boundary stones of the District of Columbia	[17]
Boundary stones, three of the	[18]
British Embassy	[290]
Building regulations issued by President Washington	[21]
Burke, statue of Edmund	[344]
Burnham, Daniel H., on city planning	[81]
Cabin John Bridge	[214]
Capitol, the	[220]
Capitol, the, 1840	[49]
Capitol, the, 1870	[60]
Capitol at night	[222]
Capitol, basement plan of, 1800	[171]
Capitol, bronze doors to the	[225]
Capitol, bronze doors to the House of Representatives wing	[229]
Capitol, bronze doors to the Senate wing	[227]
Capitol, design by Thornton, 1800	[165]
Capitol, from Pennsylvania Avenue, 1830	[166]
Capitol, from the west, showing the Tripoli column	[167]
Capitol Grounds and Union Station Plaza, 1917	[96]
Capitol Grounds, treatment of the	[297]
Capitol Prison, old	[53]
Capitol, showing uncompleted dome, 1860	[54]
Capitol, treatment for area west of the, plan of 1901	[85]
Capitol upon its restoration, 1827	[164]
Capitol, view from dome of, looking east	[106]
Capitol, view of dome of the, looking south	[107]
Central composition of the National Capital	[100]
Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, Georgetown, lock of the old	[178]
Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, gatehouse	[48]
Christ Church, Washington	[189]
Christ Church, Alexandria, Va	[120]
Christ Church burial ground, later known as Congressional Cemetery	[44]
Columbia Island Plaza and Memorial Avenue	[140]
Constitution Hall	[278]
Dante, statue of	[337]
Decatur House	[176]
Declaration of Independence and the Constitution	[251]
Dermott map, the	[32]
District of Columbia Supreme Court Building	[194]
Dolly Madison House	[175]
Dupont Memorial Fountain	[335]
East Capitol Street	[111]
Ellicott plan, the	[30]
Ellicott map, the	[39]
Executive Building, 1820-66	[267]
Fish market along the water front	[115]
Folger Shakespeare Library	[253]
Folger Shakespeare Library, exhibition hall	[254]
Ford’s Theater	[216]
Fort Drive	[110]
Francis Scott Key Bridge	[181]
Francis Scott Key House	[183]
Freedom, statue of	[223]
Gatehouse by Bulfinch, formerly near the Capitol	[72]
Gatepost designed by Bulfinch, near the Capitol	[63]
George Washington Memorial Parkway	[114]
Georgetown, house of the early days in	[184]
Government Printing Office, the United States	[258]
Grand Army of the Republic Memorial	[330]
Grand review of Union Army, May 1865	[58]
Grant, Gen. U. S., memorial	[338], [342]
Grant, Gen. U. S., memorial, Artillery group	[341]
Grant, Gen. U. S., memorial, Cavalry group	[340]
Great Falls of the Potomac	[116]
Hamilton, statue of Alexander	[345]
Haymarket Square, old	[59]
Horse cars, view showing	[61]
House of Representatives Chamber	[231]
House of Representatives about 1820, painting by Samuel F. B. Morse	[46]
House of Representatives Chamber, 1830	[169]
House of Representatives Office Building, New	[233]
House of Representatives Office Building, Old	[233]
Italian Embassy	[291]
Jackson, statue of Gen. Andrew	[323]
Jeanne d’Arc, statue of	[334]
Joaquin Miller Cabin in Rock Creek Park	[159]
King map, the	[33]
Lafayette Park, showing statue of Gen. Andrew Jackson	[152]
Lafayette, statue of General	[327]
L’Enfant, Maj. Pierre Charles	[23]
L’Enfant plan, the	[26]
L’Enfant plan, sketch of the	[22]
L’Enfant, tomb of	[317]
Library of Congress	[244]
Library of Congress addition	[248]
Library of Congress, grand staircase	[246]
Library of Congress, reading room	[249]
Lincoln died, house in which President	[217]
Lincoln, second inaugural of President, 1865	[56]
Lincoln Memorial, the	[130], [154]
Lincoln Memorial and approaches, the	[130]
Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Basin	[134]
Lincoln Memorial, site of the, 1901	[92]
Lincoln Memorial, statue of Abraham Lincoln	[132]
Lincoln Memorial, Memorial Bridge, and Riverside Drive, plan of 1901	[93]
Longfellow, statue of Henry Wadsworth	[328]
Mall about 1890, view of the	[64]
Mall, the, 1930	[97]
Mall, view from the Washington Monument, looking east	[295]
Mall, view from the Capitol dome, looking west	[294]
Mall, the, inundated	[79]
Mall and Monument Gardens, plan of 1901	[88]
Mall, plan of the	[90]
Mall, the, showing railroad tracks crossing it	[78]
Meridian Hill Park, lower garden	[156]
Meridian Hill Park, upper garden	[156]
Mount Vernon	[125]
Mount Vernon from the air	[124]
Mount Vernon Memorial Highway	[118]
Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, bridge over Hunting Creek	[121]
Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, north of Little Hunting Creek	[117]
Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, bridge over Boundary Channel	[119]
Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, underpass at highway bridge	[121]
National Archives Building	[282]
National Archives Building, mural paintings in	[283]
National Gallery of Art	[281]
National Geographic Society	[278]
National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception	[287]
New Hampshire Avenue	[144]
Octagon House	[174]
Old Tobacco Barn (old Christ Church)	[188]
Park areas acquired to July 1, 1938	[149]
Patent Office Building, Old	[198]
Pennsylvania Avenue, plan of 1910, plan for developing south side	[293]
Pennsylvania Avenue, between the Treasury and the Capitol	[298]
Pennsylvania Railroad Station, old	[77]
Pulaski, statue of Gen. Casimir	[332]
Rock Creek Church	[186]
Rock Creek Park, map of	[158]
Senate Chamber	[230]
Senate Chamber, 1830	[168]
Senate Office Building	[232]
Six Buildings, the	[36]
Smithsonian Institution	[255]
Soldiers’ Home, United States	[212]
St. John’s Church	[191]
St. John’s Church, early view of	[192]
State Building, Department of, 1801	[265]
State Building, Department of, when remodeled	[264]
Thornton, Dr. William	[197]
Treasury Building, Department of the	[270]
Treasury Building, Department of the, 1855	[52]
Treasury Building, site and material for, 1839	[47]
Triangle group of public buildings along Constitution Avenue	[280]
Tripoli Column, at Annapolis, Md	[320]
Tudor Place, showing gardens on the east side	[187]
Tudor Place, Thirty-first and Q Streets	[185]
Unknown Soldier of the World War, the Tomb of the	[314]
Union Square, plan of 1901	[86]
Union Station	[234]
Union Station, concourse	[236]
Union Station, waiting room	[238]
Union Station and Plaza, looking north from the dome of the Capitol	[300]
United States Supreme Court Building	[302]
United States Supreme Court Chamber	[303]
Van Ness Mansion	[177]
Wakefield, at Popes Creek, Westmoreland County, Va	[127]
Wakefield, Washington family burying ground	[129]
Washington and Wakefield, map showing	[128]
Washington, 1852	[50]
Washington, 1890	[62]
Washington and environs, regional plan of	[104]
Washington Cathedral	[285]
Washington Cathedral, interior	[286]
Washington City Post Office	[242]
Washington, early, showing the Jefferson poplars	[38]
Washington, view of early	[34]
Washington from Arlington Heights, 1865	[55]
Washington from Arlington, plan of 1901	[76]
Washington from the President’s House, 1830	[44]
Washington, the future	[94]
Washington in 1792	[12]
Washington in embryo	[14]
Washington, looking north from the White House	[70]
Washington, looking south from Sixteenth Street and Columbia Road	[71]
Washington, model of the future, plan of 1901	[75]
Washington, model of, showing conditions in 1901	[74]
Washington, George, Houdon bust of	[122]
Washington, George, statue of	[322]
Washington, George, statue of Gen.	[318]
Washington, tomb of	[126]
Washington Monument, the	[208]
Washington Monument, as seen from the Mall grounds	[206]
Washington Monument, plan of the, by Robert Mills	[200]
Washington Monument, uncompleted, as it appeared from 1852-78	[204]
Washington Monument, under construction, 1872	[202]
Washington Monument, view northwest from the	[274]
Water front, plan for improvement of the	[112]
White House, early view of the	[170]
White House, north side	[262]
White House, view showing terrace on south side, 1827	[172]
Witherspoon, statue of John	[329]
World’s Columbian Exposition, Court of Honor, looking east	[66]
World’s Columbian Exposition, Court of Honor, looking west	[67]
Zero milestone	[336]

Chapter I
THE FEDERAL CITY
STORY OF THE MOVEMENT WHICH ESTABLISHED THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT NEAR THE POTOMAC

The problem of establishing a permanent seat of government for the United States was most perplexing. The Continental Congress was obliged for its own protection to travel from place to place to conduct its sessions. By the treaty of Paris, in 1783, the independence of the Colonies had been recognized, but they were then united simply as a confederation, and there was lacking Federal authority through which the needs of the Government could be asserted and provided for. This was felt keenly in the matter of obtaining the necessary revenue to maintain the Government, for the Continental Congress did not have the power of taxation and had to depend upon the good will of the Colonies.

The demands upon the Continental Congress were many. The War of Independence had impoverished the Colonies. There were the debts of war incurred by the Continental Congress and also the debts of the Colonies themselves—in all, $20,000,000, a huge sum in those days, and a factor which, as we shall see, figured in the location of the Federal City south of the Mason and Dixon line. Then, too, there was an army of soldiers being discharged, with no funds at hand to pay them for their services.

Prior to the establishment of the Federal City on the banks of the Potomac, the Continental Congress met in eight different cities and towns, viz:

Philadelphia, September 5, 1774, to December 12, 1776.

Baltimore, December 20, 1776, to February 27, 1777.

Philadelphia, March 4 to September 18, 1777.

Lancaster, Pa., September 27, 1777.

York, Pa., September 30, 1777, to June 27, 1778.

Philadelphia, July 2, 1778, to June 21, 1783.

Princeton, N. J., June 26, 1783, to November 4, 1783.

Annapolis, Md., November 26, 1783, to June 3, 1784.

Trenton, N. J., November, 1784, to December 24, 1784.

New York City, January 11, 1785, to March 4, 1789.

From March 2, 1781, the Continental Congress was also called by some the Congress of the Confederation. The first Congress under the Constitution met on March 4, 1789, and adjourned September 29, 1789. On December 6, 1790, the third session of the First Congress began in Philadelphia, which was the temporary seat of government until November, 1800.

The Continental Congress was seriously inconvenienced by this moving from place to place. They could not take with them their records and files, were required to seek protection, and there was lack of adequate accommodations in some of the towns where they met. In Princeton the sessions were held in the college building, Nassau Hall, where the average attendance was only 22 Members.

The suggestion had been made in November, 1779, by some Members that the Congress purchase a few square miles near Princeton village, whereon to erect public offices and buildings for a permanent home for Congress.

The two leading factors that entered into the question of establishment of a seat of government of the United States were jurisdiction and geographical location. It was deemed very important to give to the National Capital a central location along the Atlantic coast. Debates on this question continued until 1790.

On January 29, 1783, the trustees of the corporation of Kingston, N. Y., took the first recorded action by sending a memorial to the New York State Legislature that “their estate be erected into a separate district for the Honorable Congress of the United States.” It was proposed to grant to Congress 1 square mile within the limits of the town of Kingston, and the New York Legislature consented to this by the adoption of a resolution on March 14, 1783. Upon the suggestion of Alexander Hamilton and William Floyd this area was, in September, increased to 2 square miles.

On May 12, 1783, the corporation of Annapolis adopted a resolution calling upon the Maryland Legislature to allow the establishment of the seat of government at Annapolis, because of its central location along the Atlantic coast. The Continental Congress took note of this on June 4, 1783. New Jersey, on June 19, 1783, offered a site anywhere in the State. On June 28, 1783, the Legislature of Virginia offered to Congress the town of Williamsburg and agreed to present the capitol, the palace, and all the public buildings, together with 300 acres of land adjoining the city, and a sum of money not to exceed £100,000. This money was to be expended in erecting 13 hotels for the Delegates to Congress. Also the town would cede a district contiguous to it not exceeding 5 miles square. The legislature also offered to cede a like district on the banks of the Potomac and to assure a sum not exceeding £100,000 for the erection of hotels, and would also purchase 100 acres of land for the erection of public buildings. Virginia offered to cede land along the banks of the Potomac if Maryland would unite and offer a similar tract on the opposite bank of the river; but should Congress build on the Maryland side only the sum of £40,000 would be appropriated and the State would be expected to supply the deficiency.

The offers of New York and Maryland, as recorded in the proceedings of Congress of June 4, 1783, having emphasized the importance of the subject to establish a permanent seat of government, we are told in the annals of Madison that a day in October was named when the subject would be considered. However, during that very month a mutiny of dissatisfied soldiers took place. A band of soldiers started from Lancaster, Pa., on June 17, 1783, for Philadelphia, to demand from the Continental Congress the money then due. Congress appointed a committee to appeal to the executive council of the State of Pennsylvania, in session in the same building, for protection against the threatened attack by the soldiers, but the council refused, saying that the militia would doubtless not be willing to take up arms “before their resentment should be provoked by some actual outrages.” The soldiers, about 300 in number, proceeded to the state-house—Independence Hall—where Congress and the executive council were in session, surrounded that building, but attempted no violence. Occasionally some soldier would use offensive language and point his musket at the windows of the Halls of Congress, but at night the soldiers departed. Congress thereupon adjourned hastily to meet in Princeton eight days later. General Washington ordered a court-martial, in which two of the mutineers were sentenced to death and four to receive corporal punishment; but the convicted men were all pardoned by Congress. General Washington regarded the mutineers as “recruits and soldiers of a day who have not borne the heat and burden of war, and who can have in reality very few hardships to complain of.” The legislators were invited to return to Philadelphia, but the offer was refused, for the reason that the armed soldiers had grossly insulted Congress and it seemed useless to apply to the executive council for protection. This led to the appointment of a committee, of which James Madison was chairman, on the subject of a permanent seat of government. They submitted a report on September 18, 1783.

The committee reported on two questions: First, the extent of the district necessary; second, the power to be exercised by Congress in that district. As to the first question, it was reported that a district should not be less than 3 miles or more than 6 miles square; and second, that Congress ought to have exclusive jurisdiction. The report was referred to a committee as a whole, but there is no record that further action was taken.

When the question of a permanent seat of government was again taken up by the Continental Congress, it was the question of location that predominated; the question of exclusive jurisdiction had generally been conceded. The discussion was finally limited to two sites: First, a location on the banks of the Potomac at least as far south as Georgetown, which was favored particularly by the southern Members of Congress as being the geographical center of the United States; second, a site on the Delaware River near the falls above Trenton, which Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the other States near by favored.

On October 7, 1783, Congress decided that a permanent seat of government should be established on the Delaware River site, and a committee was appointed to visit the location. Ten days later, on October 17, 1783, Congress decided that there should be a National Capital at the lower falls of the Potomac, at Georgetown. This is the first mention of the present location of the National Capital. Pending the completion of necessary buildings, it was decided that the Continental Congress would meet at Trenton and Annapolis. But the idea of having two capitals was ridiculed by such men as Francis Hopkinson, who suggested that there be one Federal town to be placed on a platform supported by wheels and two places of residence. As to a statue of George Washington that had been authorized by Congress at the same session, he suggested it be placed on wheels and be taken to wherever Congress met. The idea of having two capitals was abandoned by legislation adopted at Trenton on December 23, 1784.

Two years elapsed before Congress took up the subject again. In the meantime a movement began, under the leadership of George Washington, to promote trade relations between Virginia and Maryland, and to establish trade with the western frontier by the construction of a canal along the banks of the Potomac. Washington became president of the Potomac Company at the time of its organization in 1785, and was its guiding spirit for a period of four years, until 1789, when he resigned from that office to take up his duties as first President of the United States.

A trade convention, held at Annapolis, led to the call for the Constitutional Convention, February 21, 1787, to meet in Philadelphia in May of that year.

On May 29,1787, the draft of the Constitution submitted by Charles Pinckney, of South Carolina, first mentions the section relating to the Federal district in the form in which it became a part of the Constitution of the United States (Art. I, sec. 8, par. 17), under the powers of Congress—

To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever over such district (not exceeding 10 miles square) as may, by cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the 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, dockyards, and other needful buildings.

There was objection on the part of some lest such a provision in the Federal Constitution would create a government that would become despotic and tyrannical and result in unjust discrimination in matters of trade and commerce between the merchants within and outside of the district. But on the other hand the advocates for a Federal City over which Congress would have exclusive jurisdiction called attention to the great importance for the Government to have a permanent residence for the Congress and the executive departments, with their files and records properly housed, and cited the mutiny in Philadelphia as an illustration as to what might happen to the Government again in the absence of such Federal authority. On September 17, 1787, the Constitution of the United States was adopted and soon after was ratified by a majority of the States.

When the time came for the inauguration of President Washington, on April 30, 1789, in New York City, the Continental Congress was completing its sessions, having resided in that city from 1785, a period of four years. Of a population of 25,000 in 1776, the city in 1789 had a population of only half that number, due to the continuous occupation by the British Army for a period of seven years. During the evacuation the city was partly ruined. But a new era began; trade increased, and the city began to grow rapidly. The Continental Congress was meeting in the old city hall, which had been used by the British as a prison and was in a dilapidated condition. As Washington was to be inaugurated in New York, the people thought that city would become the seat of government, so the city hall was torn down and a new building erected on the site where the subtreasury building on Wall Street now stands.

It was recognized that the presence of that national body was a valuable asset to the city. Pierre Charles L’Enfant, who late in 1791 made the plan for the Federal City, was selected to design and construct the building. When the Members of Congress assembled for the First Congress under the Federal Constitution, they met in a building constructed with classical arches and columns, painted ceilings and marble pavements, and furnished in a magnificent manner with crimson damask canopies and hangings. The exterior was marked by a portico with arcaded front and highly decorated pediments. But the building had been erected too rapidly to endure permanently; poor work had been done, and in a few years it was demolished.

The building was called Federal Hall. Here on April 30, 1789, a date never to be forgotten in the annals of American history, George Washington was inaugurated first President of the United States of America. The spot where General Washington stood is now marked, as nearly as possible, by the J. Q. A. Ward statue of the first President, which stands in front of the subtreasury building on Wall Street. Just inside the door, preserved under glass, is a brownstone slab on which is inscribed:

STANDING ON THIS STONE, IN THE BALCONY OF FEDERAL HALL, APRIL 30, 1789, GEORGE WASHINGTON TOOK THE OATH AS THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

During the sessions of this Congress long and careful consideration was given to the question of a permanent seat of government. It had its place with great problems before Congress at the time—as the revenue bill, which would provide money for the newly established Republic, creating executive departments, plans for the funding of the public debt and the assumption of State debts, disposal of public lands, and establishing a judicial system. At the opening of the last month of the session the question of a residence for the United States Government was brought up. Protest was made against consideration of the subject in view of the other important questions pending before Congress that seemed to some to be more urgent, also because, they said, Congress was properly housed, and that other towns like Trenton, Germantown, Carlisle, Lancaster, York, and Reading would be glad to have Congress locate with them.

However, the southern Members, led by Richard Bland Lee and James Madison, Representatives from Virginia, argued for present consideration of the subject. They favored the Potomac River site at least as far south as Georgetown, which they asserted would be geographically the center of the United States. They claimed for their section of the country in this matter the consideration of justice and equality. They argued that there was no question more important—one in which the people of the country were so deeply interested and one on the settlement of which the peace and the permanent existence of the country so much depended. The question of location finally resolved itself into the consideration of two localities: First, a site near the falls of the Susquehanna, at Wrights Ferry, Pa., 35 miles from tidewater; and second, a site at Georgetown, Md., near the lower falls of the Potomac.

Great stress was laid on the importance of a site that would place the seat of government on a navigable stream far enough from the sea to be safe from hostile attacks. But it was also deemed very important to select a place that would offer means of communication with the western country, which was a subject, as we have seen, in which George Washington was interested for years previously. This argument was effective, as it offered advantages for carrying on trade with the vast western country for which the Potomac Company had been established.

The subject received the consideration of both the House and Senate in September, 1789, but its final consideration was deferred until the following year, in June, 1790. The southern Members, especially the Representatives of Maryland and Virginia, were particularly active, believing a decision on the Potomac River site was in their favor. In December, 1789, Virginia had made a grant of $120,000, and a sum equal to two-thirds of that amount had been voted by the Legislature of the State of Maryland for the construction of buildings, in addition to their willingness to cede the portion of the 10-mile square in their respective States along the Potomac River desired for the Federal district.

The final disposition of this question was settled by compromise.

At the time Hamilton had the funding bill before Congress, and lacked one vote in the Senate and five in the House to secure its passage, he came to an agreement with Robert Morris, financier of the Revolution, on the question of location of the seat of government. Also, Thomas Jefferson tells us, in his “Anas,” of a dinner given by him at which the residence question was discussed and an agreement reached whereby the southern Members agreed to the funding bill in consideration of the designation of Philadelphia as the seat of government for a 10-year period and thereafter along the Potomac.

Chapter II
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE TEMPORARY AND PERMANENT SEATS OF GOVERNMENT

The House of Representatives had proposed a bill naming Baltimore as the site, but the Senate struck out this provision, and on July 1, 1790, voted 14 to 12 for the Potomac River site between the mouth of the Eastern Branch and the Connogochegue, a tributary of the Potomac, 20 miles south of the Pennsylvania State line. The bill which became a law July 16, 1790, reads as follows:

An Act for establishing the temporary and permanent seat of the Government of the United States

Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That a district of territory, not exceeding ten miles square, to be located as hereafter directed on the river Potomac, at some place between the mouths of the Eastern Branch and Connogochegue, be, and the same is hereby, accepted for the permanent seat of the government of the United States. Provided nevertheless, That the operation of the laws of the state within such district shall not be affected by this acceptance, until the time fixed for the removal of the government thereto, and until Congress shall otherwise by law provide.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States be authorized to appoint, and by supplying vacancies happening from refusals to act or other causes, to keep in appointment as long as may be necessary, three commissioners, who, or any two of whom, shall, under the direction of the President, survey, and by proper metes and bounds define and limit a district of territory, under the limitations above mentioned; and the district so defined, limited and located, shall be deemed the district accepted by this act, for the permanent seat of the government of the United States.

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the said commissioners, or any two of them, shall have power to purchase or accept such quantity of land on the eastern side of the said river, within the said district, as the President shall deem proper for the use of the United States, and according to such plans as the President shall approve, the said commissioners, or any two of them, shall, prior to the first Monday in December, in the year one thousand eight hundred, provide suitable buildings for the accommodation of Congress, and of the President, and for the public offices of the government of the United States.

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That for defraying the expense of such purchases and buildings, the President of the United States be authorized and requested to accept grants of money.

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That prior to the first Monday in December next, all offices attached to the seat of the government of the United States, shall be removed to, and until the said first Monday in December, in the year one thousand eight hundred, shall remain at the city of Philadelphia, in the state of Pennsylvania, at which place the session of Congress next ensuing the present shall be held.

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That on the said first Monday in December, in the year one thousand eight hundred, the seat of the government of the United States, shall, by virtue of this act, be transferred to the district and place aforesaid. And all offices attached to the said seat of government, shall accordingly be removed thereto by their respective holders, and shall, after the said day, cease to be exercised elsewhere; and that the necessary expense of such removal shall be defrayed out of the duties on imposts and tonnage, of which a sufficient sum is hereby appropriated.

It is said that the loftiest minds of Congress were swayed by the judgment of George Washington in this matter. They agreed with him that America should establish the precedent of a nation locating and founding a city for its permanent capital by legislative enactment. Furthermore, they wished to honor that first President and great general and counselor, who had made their independence possible, by conferring upon him the power to select for this Federal City the locality he had in prophetic vision chosen as a suitable site for the capital of the Republic. By this act Congress expressed its faith in President Washington by permitting him to establish the capital anywhere along the Potomac between the Eastern Branch and the Connogochegue, a distance of 80 miles. The boundaries of no other city were ever fixed with more certainty. It is recorded that George Washington was harassed by the importunities of anxious residents and aggressive speculators, but that he never wavered in his purpose to select for the site of the Federal City that which in former years he had chosen for the Federal home upon the establishment of the Republic.

By proclamation of January 24, 1791, President Washington directed that a preliminary survey be made, or, in the President’s words, “lines of experiment” were to be run. This survey was substantially in accord with the lines subsequently adopted, moving the southern boundary point of the “ten miles square” farther south so as to include a convenient part of the Eastern Branch and also the town of Alexandria.

The act of July 16, 1790, was thereupon amended accordingly by act approved March 3, 1791, as follows:

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That so much of the act, entitled “An act for establishing the temporary and permanent seat of the government of the United States,” as requires that the whole of the district of territory, not exceeding ten miles square, to be located on the river Potomac, for the permanent seat of the government of the United States, shall be located above the mouth of the Eastern Branch be and is hereby repealed, and that it shall be lawful for the President to make any part of the territory below the said limit, and above the mouth of Hunting Creek, a part of the said district, so as to include a convenient part of the Eastern Branch, and of the lands lying on the lower side thereof and also the town of Alexandria, and the territory so to be included, shall form a part of the district not exceeding ten miles square, for the permanent seat of the government of the United States, in like manner and to all intents and purposes, as if the same had been within the purview of the above recited act: Provided, That nothing herein contained, shall authorize the erection of public buildings otherwise than on the Maryland side of the river Potomac, as required by the aforesaid act.

Thus within a period of nine months the limits of the Federal territory were established. The corner stone was set with appropriate ceremonies at Jones Point, Alexandria, Va., April 15, 1791. Not a cent was advanced by Congress for buildings or grounds. In fact, the Treasury was empty, and without credit Congress was unable to give financial assistance. Washington himself drew up the original agreement by which the owners were to convey the land to the Government which the Cincinnatus of the West bought from the landholders at £25 per acre.

Of George Washington, Daniel Webster said, at the ceremonies for enlarging the Capitol to its present size, on July 4, 1851:

He heads a short procession over naked fields, he crosses yonder stream on a fallen tree, he ascends to the top of this eminence, where original oaks of the forest stood as thick around as if the spot had been devoted to Druidical worship, and here he performed the appointed duty of the day.

In earlier years Washington had noted the beauty of the broad eminence on which the Capitol was destined to be reared, and had marked the breadth of the picture and the strong colors of the landscape with its environing wall of wooded heights, which rolled back against the sky as if to inclose a beautiful area fit for the supreme deliberation of the governmental affairs of a great Republic in the New World, founded on the truths “that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” These truths, as set forth in the unanimous declaration of the thirteen original colonies of the United States of America adopted July 4, 1776, formed the basis of the Magna Charta of American liberty, known to us as the Declaration of Independence.