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founded Alexandria, the area's first town, in what was then the
colony of Virginia.
Washington becomes the capital. Several different cities
served as the national capital during the early years of the United
States. In 1783, Congress decided that the country should have a
permanent center of government. But the states could not agree on
a location for it. People assumed that the new capital would
become an important commercial and industrial city. As a result,
each state wanted it to be located within its borders. Also, both
Northerners and Southerners believed the capital should be in their
part of the country,
In 1790, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton worked
out a solution. He proposed that the capital be built on land that
belonged to the federal government, rather than to a state. He and
others persuaded Northern political leaders to agree to locate the
capital in the South. In return, Southern leaders supported certain
government policies favored by the North.
Once the disagreements were settled, Congress decided to
locate the capital along the Potomac River. It asked President
George Washington, who had been raised in the Potomac area, to
choose the exact site.
The President's choice, made in 1791, included not only the
land now occupied by Washington, but also about 30 square miles
(78 square kilometers) of land west of the Potomac. The city's
present territory had belonged to Maryland, and the land southwest
of the river was part of Virginia. The two states turned over the
territory to the federal government.
Early days. George Washington hired Pierre Charles L'Enfant,
a French engineer, to create a plan for the physical layout of the
city. L'Enfant's plan dealt only with the area between the
Anacostia River and Georgetown. But it established the pattern for
the entire city. It made the Capitol the center of Washington. The
American surveyors Andrew Ellicott and Benjamin Banneker
helped workout the plan for the new city.
The federal government moved to Washington from its
temporary capital in Philadelphia in 1800. At that time, the entire
Washington area had only about 8,000 people. In 1814, during the
War of 1812, British soldiers captured Washington. They burned
the Capitol, the White House, and other government buildings.
Reconstruction of the buildings was completed in 1819.