Here one may see in operation the work of governing a great nation. The representatives whom the people have chosen meet in the splendid Capitol to make laws for the whole country. The home of the president is here, and here are located the headquarters of the great departments of our government.
The capital city is a city of splendid trees, of wide, well-paved streets and handsome avenues. At the intersection of many of the streets and avenues are beautiful parks and circles, ornamented by statues of the great men of the nation.
“How,” we are asked, “did it happen that the capital of a great nation was built almost on its eastern boundary?” The distance from Washington to San Francisco is 3205 miles. In other words, Washington is almost as near to London as to San Francisco. The answer is simple. The site was chosen when the settled part of our country lay between the Allegheny Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean. At that time most of the land west of the Alleghenies was looked upon as a wilderness whose settlement was uncertain, while no one dreamed that the infant nation would extend its boundaries to the Pacific Ocean.
“And why was it decided to build a new city as the nation's capital, on a site where there was not even a settlement? Why was not some city already established chosen to be the chief city of the nation?” The story is interesting.
Before the Revolutionary War the colonies were much like thirteen independent nations, having little to do with one another, but during the war a common peril held them together in a loose union. With the danger passed and independence won, this union threatened to dissolve, but thanks to the influence of the wisest and best men in the country the thirteen states finally became one nation and adopted the Constitution which governs the United States to-day. Then discussion arose as to the site of the new nation's capital. Several states clamored for the honor of having one of their cities chosen as the government city. The men who framed the Constitution were wise enough, however, to foresee difficulty if this were done, and insisted that the seat of government should be in no state but in a small territory which should be controlled entirely by the national government.
After much debate the present location was chosen, and the two states of Maryland and Virginia each gave to the federal government entire control over a small territory on the Potomac River. The two pieces of land formed a square, ten miles on each side. The territory was named the District of Columbia, and the city to be built was called Washington in honor of our first president, whose home, Mount Vernon, was but a few miles away. Later, in 1846, the Virginia part of the District was given back, so now all the District is on the Maryland side of the Potomac and is no longer in the shape of a square.
MOUNT VERNON
