#497 Why is Washington DC the capital of the United States?

Why is Washington DC the capital of the United States? It was a compromise between the northern and the southern states. Washington DC was first used as the capital of America in November of 1800. It replaced the city of Philadelphia, which had been serving as the home of the Continental Congress and the capital city since 1775.

Before America thought about declaring independence in the early 1770s, there were 13 colonies that made up America and they didn’t have a central capital. Each colony had its own regional government, but were all directly responsible to London. Of all the cities in the 13 colonies, Philadelphia, was the largest, but Philadelphia, New York, and Boston all had over 16,000 people.

In 1765, Britain passed the Stamp Act, which taxed the American colonies, without going through their regional governments. The fact that the colonies didn’t have representation in the British parliament but were paying high tax led to the Boston Tea Party, which in turn led to Britain disbanding the government of Massachusetts and putting it under military rule. The colonies obviously didn’t like this, and they convened the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1774. Philadelphia was the largest of the main cities, and it made sense to have the meeting there.

Throughout the American War of Independence, the capital city was where the Continental Congress convened and it was forced to move around different cities as the war ebbed and flowed. It started in Philadelphia, but moved to Baltimore when the British looked like they would take Philadelphia. From Baltimore it went to Maryland, back to Philadelphia, to Lancaster, to York, then back to Philadelphia in 1778 after the war had finished. The Congress of the new United States of America settled in Philadelphia and wrote the constitution of the United States there.

So, why is Washington DC the capital of the United States? All appeared good in Philadelphia. The Declaration of Independence had been written there. The constitution was written there. It seemed like a good capital. Then, in 1783, unpaid soldiers from the War of Independence descended on Philadelphia and blocked the doors of congress, imprisoning the government. They demanded to be paid, which is reasonable. The problem was the government didn’t have any money to pay them with. After the War of Independence, the economy of the United States was barely held together. The British Navy had destroyed most of their ships and trade was banned with all other British colonies. There were large amounts of war debts and the agricultural sector had been harmed by both British and American forces stealing food during the war. Congress tried to get help from the Pennsylvania state army (the state Philadelphia is in), but they refused. Something had to be done and the mutiny of the unpaid soldiers pushed them to do it. Congress escaped from Philadelphia and moved around cities again, before agreeing to return to Philadelphia in 1787. However, they didn’t feel safe there and they didn’t like having to rely on one single state for protection.

It took a while to work out, but in 1790, congress passed the Residence Act. Article 1, Section 8 of the constitution also gave them the power to create a seat of the government of the United States. It says, “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.” The only problem was where to put it. It couldn’t be too far in the south or too far in the north. The southern states were still heavily involved with slavery, and the idea of abolishing slavery was starting to take off in the north. The slave holders wouldn’t stand for a northern capital and the abolitionists wouldn’t stand for a southern one.

George Washington chose the site for the new city on the Potomac River, to allow ships to sail up to it. The states of Maryland and Virginia donated the land to the new city so that it would not be part of any one state and would be independent. In return, the new capital agreed to take on all of the war debt. The United States of America obviously did recover economically after the War of Independence, but it took 27 years before it returned to pre-war levels.

Once the capital had been decided, building commenced. Congress agreed to stay in Philadelphia until the new city was ready. Philadelphia tried very hard to persuade George Washington and congress to keep the capital in Philadelphia. They gave Washington and mansion, but he didn’t use it. Despite construction, the capital of the United States could have stayed in Philadelphia, if it hadn’t been for a yellow fever outbreak in 1793. This was the nail in the coffin and the American government moved to the City of Washington in the District of Columbia in May of 1800. The first congress was held in the new capital in November of 1800. And the capital of the United States hasn’t moved since then. And this is what I learned today.

Photo by Aaron Kittredge: https://www.pexels.com/photo/white-house-129112/

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States

https://washington.org/DC-information/washington-dc-history#

https://www.history.com/news/how-did-washington-d-c-get-its-name

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_D.C.

https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/how-philadelphia-lost-the-nations-capital-to-washington

https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/articles/article-i

https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/how-philly-lost-the-nations-capital-to-washington

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia