George Washington's Final Battle by Robert P. Watson

Author:Robert P. Watson [Watson, Robert P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, United States, Colonial Period (1600-1775), State & Local, Middle Atlantic (DC; DE; MD; NJ; NY; PA), Revolutionary Period (1775-1800), General
ISBN: 9781626167841
Google: xNHTDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
Published: 2021-02-15T00:37:37+00:00

CHAPTER 21

The City of Washington

Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.

James Madison

Another explosive matter remained for Washington. Both physically and symbolically, the size and composition of the capital would influence the development of the nation. The grand city envisioned by Washington would reflect the power of the federal government, which worried the anti-federalists and many southerners.

Accordingly, Washington invited Thomas Jefferson, as his influential secretary of state, to play a role in the project. Both Virginians were experienced surveyors and prominent landowners who enjoyed renovating and tinkering with their homes and properties. Jefferson had frequently offered Washington advice on such matters, once writing him while in Europe, “In Paris it is forbidden to build a house beyond a given height, and it is admitted to be a good restriction. It keeps down the price of ground, keeps the houses low and convenient, and the streets light and airy. Fires are much more manageable where houses are low.” Of course, Jefferson was only too happy to help with the city’s construction and advocated a simple, small design for the city and its buildings as a way of advancing his pastoral aesthetic, anti-federalist politics, and limited role for government.1

Jefferson and his supporters began proposing that the new capital be a simple “town” with a few small, brick buildings covering only a few hundred acres.2 The Residence Act, after all, did not specify an exact size for the capital city within the “ten Miles square” district. Therefore, the next phase of the debate began in earnest. Georgetown landowners publicly estimated the city would require four hundred acres. Daniel Carroll, one of the three commissioners Washington later selected who also owned land by the Potomac, guessed that 160 acres were needed.3 However, Washington and Hamilton had a vastly different and far grander vision for both the city and nation.4

Washington met with Jefferson and Madison on August 29, 1790, to begin formal discussions on the city. The two friends warned the president not to center his plans for the city on Alexandria. To do so would create a stir because the president owned property there. They encouraged him to focus on Georgetown and then add additional lands to the federal city as the process moved forward. However, the president knew that, for political reasons, he would need to include the town of Alexandria within the district and city. It was the county seat of government and a thriving port, it would help to raise revenues for the city, and it would balance the power of the area’s other leading town—Georgetown.5

The next steps in the plan would unfold in four stages. The first involved weighing the options for the exact location and then fixing the boundaries. The second would be a design competition for the architects of the city, Capitol Building, and presidential home. The third challenge involved selling plots to finance the city. Finally, there was the matter of physically constructing the city and its many buildings.

After the Residence Act passed, Washington headed to Mount Vernon

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