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It should come as no surprise that Washington DC, America's foremost city of politics, was born out of political compromise.
Washington DC did not exist as either a city or a capital at the close of the American Revolution. At that time, the newly formed federal government endured a nomadic existence, setting up headquarters in eight locations, most notably New York City and Philadelphia. A weary Congress wanted a home of its own and voted in 1785 to create a permanent federal city. Divisions arose when the northern states wanted a northerly location, preferring a site along the Delaware River and the southerners wanted the capital farther south, along the Potomac River. Eventually, they compromised. It was decided if the northern states agreed to establish the capital on the Potomac, the federal government would assume the war debts of the colonies. Thus, Washington was created.
To establish the new nation's capital, Virginia and Maryland donated land to create the District of Columbia. George Washington, the first president, selected the site, at the confluence of the Anacostia and Potomac rivers. The new federal city was close to his estate, Mount Vernon, on the Potomac and near Georgetown, Maryland, an important tobacco market. The new federal enclave included Georgetown and another thriving community, Old Town Alexandria.
George Washington enlisted Pierre-Charles L'Enfant, a French engineer who had served in the American Revolution, to create the capital. L'Enfant looked to Versailles for inspiration and created a magnificent city with ceremonial circles and squares, wide boulevards and streets in a grid-like fashion. He also laid plans for the National Mall. However, his efforts were not without controversy. Many early Washington families didn't want to give up land for such wide roads and they raised fears about the federal government encompassing so much territory. Though L'Enfant's vision wasn't entirely realized, he did leave his mark on the city.
Before the end of the century, construction had begun on the White House and the U.S. Capitol but, in 1800, Washington had just 3000 inhabitants and was largely considered wilderness. The capital was temporarily abandoned in 1814 when the British invaded and ordered that the building be burned. Though the invasion had little impact on the War of 1812, it solidified Washington as the nation's capital in the eyes of many Americans. Afterward, the city grew slowly. Early visitors were impressed by its wide avenues, but noted the roads seemed to lead nowhere and were void of houses, public buildings and people. The Civil War and successive wars changed that and Washington flourished. Thousands of new residents flocked to the city, sparking building booms in all directions. During the decade after the Civil War, roads were paved and in the 1880s, streetcars began traversing city streets. By the turn of the century, the city's population had swelled to 300,000.
Though construction of the Washington Monument began in the mid-1800s, it wasn't until the 20th Century that Washington truly emerged as a city of monuments and memorials. The Lincoln Memorial and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial were built during the first decades of the 20th Century. The Federal Triangle, where thousands of government workers pass their days, was also created. The massive military office complex of the Pentagon was completed in 1943. In more recent years, the FDR Memorial, the Korean War Veterans Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial have been added to the Mall.
Throughout the later 20th Century, Washington has been the site of inspiration and turmoil. Who can forget Martin Luther King's stirring "I have a dream" speech delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963? The massive protest demonstrations against the Vietnam War came later in the decade. In the 1970s, the Watergate Hotel became a household name after the break-in at Democratic National Committee headquarters by aides to Republican President, Richard M. Nixon, who eventually resigned in the wake of the scandal.
At the start of the new century, Washington remains one of the most visited and most beautiful cities in the world. Visitors come to see the monuments and memorials and to revel in the nation's history. It is more than a city of government and politics; it's a place of distinctive, historic neighborhoods and an ever-changing, modern capital.
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