Washington D.C: Our Nation’s Capital :: History

Washington D.C: Our Nation’s Capital Although the entire world is familiar with the City of Washington as the United State’s capital, the city was nonexistent when we became a nation in 1789. Thanks to the brilliant design of the French born engineer, Pierre Charles L’Enfant and his assistants Benjamin Banneker and Andrew Ellicot, our capital city that was once a swamp now is beautiful with many different parks, gardens trees, tall buildings and wide avenues. Washington, District of Columbia named after Christopher Columbus, has played a unique role in the wars of our nation and has been dramatically affected by their awesome events. The battles, conflicts and politics of war have forever changed America. During the War of 1812, the British burned the newly-built capital; The Civil War transformed Washington District of Columbia (DC) from a sleepy Southern village into the powerful capital of a reunited nation. Through the course of World War II Washington became the nerve center of an unprecedented war effort and headquarters of the postwar free world. During and after the Civil War, thousands of slaves fled to Washington D.C., thinking that if they reached the capital, they would be safe and free. However, the government was totally unprepared for an influx of this magnitude. There was no place for them to live, very little food, and no employment. Sojourner Truth was a very inspirational woman who was a former slave that worked with th ese people trying to improve their living conditions and was later employed by the government’s Freedmen’s Bureau. Wonderful black people like Sojourner Truth and James Wormley who was a successful hotel owner, were a very essential component to black’s rise in DC. They gave hope to hopeless black people. Their lives demonstrated that black people could rise above the turmoil and uproar. Before our nation’s capital rested as Washington D.C it was located in New York City temporarily. A year later it was moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A fierce rivalry developed between the northern and southern states over the location; their economic interests were completely different. The states believed that the newly appointed city to be the nations capital would have more power over the remaining states, even congressmen were aware that the area receiving the capital would gain wealth and political influence. Some of the competing cities offered land and money as incentives. This discrepancy that was finally resolved by a political compromise.