Back in Episode 367 we covered the Grand Compromise where the states agreed to the assumption of war debts and moving the Capital to the banks of the Potomac River, dividing Maryland and Virginia. That Compromise included the Residence Act of 1790 which would locate the permanent capital on the banks of the Potomac River. It authorized the President to appoint three commissioners to establish the exact borders for the new capital, to purchase the necessary land, and to begin building the accommodations necessary for the federal government.
Like many communities Georgetown had submitted several petitions to Congress, hoping to be chosen as the new federal capital. Landowners had a particular incentive since land prices would skyrocket if the new capital moved there. Maryland had already passed a law in 1788 willing to cede the land for the capital. Virginia passed a similar law in 1789
In September, 1790, just after the second session of Congress ended, President Washington sent Thomas Jefferson and James Madison to scout out the area and meet with local land owners about the possibility. Although Washington had already made clear that he wanted the capital there, officials remained cagey, trying to assure good purchase prices for the land, and making clear that local cooperation would be critical. The site was not definite, and they noted that Philadelphia was still trying to do everything it could to keep the capital where it was. To help sweeten the pot, Jefferson suggested that local owners donate some of their land
Washington also personally toured the area that fall. While he already had strong preferences for establishing the district in the area covering Georgetown, Maryland and Alexandria Virginia, he also indicated to the locals that he was considering other locations, thus pressuring them to be more generous with transfers of their land.
When Washington was ready to announce the location, a problem arose. The limits set by Congress were about four miles north of where Washington wanted to place the capital. He wanted to include the city of Alexandria, Virginia. To do that, Congress had to amend its legislation to give the president that option.
Some in Congress criticized the fact that the president was placing the capital so close to his home at Mount Vernon. What was not widely known at the time was that Washington owned over 2000 acres of land, either on his own, or in trust for his grandson, within the borders of the new capital. Some officials later grumbled that Washington stood to make a fortune from his selection, but the matter never rose to more than grumbling in private letters and discussions.
Commissioners
On January 24, 1791, Washington submitted his final choice of land to Congress He appointed the first three commissioners, David Stuart of Alexandria, Thomas Johnson of Frederick, Maryland, and Daniel Carroll of Rock Creek, Maryland. It was unusual for the president not to include geographic diversity on any multi-person commission. Madison had suggested appointing one commissioner from New England or the deep south, just to have an outside voice on the commission.
Washington, however, chose men who all lived in the area and had financial interests as land owners. They were all also close to Washington and willing to follow his guidance on issues relating to the new capital plan. All three men had been vocal promoters of the Potomac location before the selection. Stuart, who was elected to Congress, was one of the Virginia Congressmen who switched his vote on the federal assumption of debt in order to get the compromise deal of moving the Capital to the Potomac.
David Stuart, who lived in Alexandria, had been Washington’s personal doctor for many years and also handled some of Washington’s financial affairs. Stuart had also married into the family. After Washington’s stepson Jackie died after Yorktown, Stuart married Jackie’s wife Nelly. This made George Washington’s step-grandchildren Stuart’s step children. It also meant that the two men shared a financial interest in managing lands and estates for the Custis children.
Stuart was also an investor in the Potomac Company, along with Washington. In 1790, before being nominated as commissioner, Stuart had accompanied Madison and Jefferson on their mission to inspect the proposed site and negotiate with local land owners. Of course, Stuart was also a local land owner who would benefit from these negotiations.
The second commissioner, Thomas Johnson of Frederick, was also a longtime associate of Washington. He served as a state judge. Washington had offered him the federal judgeship for the District of Maryland, but Johnson declined. Johnson was also an investor in the Potomac company, taking over as the company’s chief executive when Washington resigned to go serve as President of the United States.
The third commissioner, Daniel Carroll of Rock Creek was also a longtime associate of Washington’s and an investor in the Potomac Company. Like Stuart, Carroll had been elected to Congress and had been one of the Congressmen who switched his vote on the assumption of debt in order to get the capital moved to the Potomac. Carroll had lost his seat in Congress, in part because of his switched vote on assumption.
Carroll owned thousands of acres in or near the proposed site for the capital. He was also related to several men who owned a great deal more land in the center of the proposed district, that the government would have to purchase in order to locate the capital where they planned.
All three men had known Washington for decades, owned large amounts of land in the area, and had been partners with Washington in other land deals. Despite any potential conflicts of interest, Congress expressed no opposition or concerns for Washington’s appointments. All three men were highly respected. Washington’s reputation for selecting men of good character was enough. The Senate waived the need to confirm the commissioners.
Pierre Charles L’Enfant
To design the new City, Washington chose Pierre Charles L’Enfant, who probably deserves a little backstory. L’Enfant was born into a wealthy French family in 1754. His father was a painter and academic at the Academie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in Paris. Pierre studied there as a boy, receiving an education in architecture, landscape architecture, science, and mathematics. Despite having no military training, L’Enfant had a connection with Beaumarchais who convinced the boy to go to America in 1776 and volunteer in the Continental Army. It was only as he was about to leave for America that he received a brevet commission as a lieutenant in the French Army, presumably to provide some protection as an officer in case his ship was captured. L’Enfant did not arrive in America until late 1777.
When he arrived in York seeking a commission, French General Coudray dismissed him as having some talent in drawing, but not really an engineer. Coudray drowned a few weeks later. But Congress sent L’Enfant packing. L’Enfant was still in Boston in early 1778 awaiting passage back to France when he met up with the recently arrived Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben. The two men hit it off. Steuben asked L’Enfant to serve as his aide and got him a commission as a captain in the Continental Army. L’Enfant went to Valley Forge where, among other things, he got Washington to sit for a portrait.
L’Enfant saw combat as General Steuben’s aide, but took no notable role in these early battles. He also drew several of the illustrations for Steuben’s manual for the Continental Army.
Captain L’Enfant was also involved in a scandal in 1778. While he had been in Boston awaiting his return to France, he wrote a rather bitter letter to a friend that was critical of the Continental Congress and the Continental Army. The British captured the letter and published an English translation of it in the London papers. L’Enfant wrote a letter to Washington at the time, saying the translation had mischaracterized what he said, and that he remained respectful of both Congress and the Army. It seems the matter was dropped. After all, a 23 year old who had just traveled to America to volunteer for the cause, only to be rejected and on his way home, was likely to harbor some bad feelings that obviously went away when he got his commission.
In 1779, L’Enfant was transferred to Charleston, SC where he worked with John Laurens on a plan to raise a regiment of slaves. That plan, of course, never materialized due to opposition by South Carolina leaders. In October, L’Enfant saw combat during the Siege of Savannah, where he was seriously wounded. He recuperated in Charleston. By the following year, he was well enough to participate in the defense of Charleston and became a prisoner of war when the British captured the town. He was paroled over a year later, but never formally exchanged until after Yorktown, meaning he could not return to active duty.
By 1782, as the war was winding down, L’Enfant had some time for painting at least two large works depicting the area around West Point. He also returned to design, building a pavilion in Philadelphia as part of the larger celebration of King Louis XVI’s first son. The Pavilion received great reviews and helped set up L’Enfant’s post war career. L’Enfant, at Washington’s request, also designed the logo for the Society of the Cincinnati
In my description of L’Enfant’s war record, and his pre-war life, there were not many impressive architectural or engineering accomplishments. L’Enfant did serve in the corps of engineers, but did not ever head any major projects. He was mostly known for his drawing ability. General Coudray’s 1777 comment that L’Enfant was a decent artist but not much of an engineer had proved accurate.
L’Enfant started his Continental service as a captain, and remained a captain through most of the war. It was only in 1783, when the war was just about over, that L’Enfant received promotion to major, just months before the Continental Army disbanded.
Still only 29 years old, L’Enfant moved to New York City to begin a career as an architect. While he had little experience, he had some great contacts. He knew Washington, Franklin and other top military leaders who respected his talent. Alexander Hamilton and he were of a similar age and were fairly close friends during the war.
L’Enfant got the job renovating New York’s City Hall to make it into the seat of the first Federal Congress. He also did some design work for St. Paul’s Cathedral.
As early as 1789, L’Enfant wrote to Washington asking to be considered for the position of city planner for the new federal city. This was more than a year before Congress decided to build a new federal city. L’Enfant, who had no city planning experience, but had studied it in school, nevertheless got the job. Washington gave him the appointment in early 1791.
Ellicott and Banneker
The project also needed a surveyor. That job went to Andrew Ellicott. He was the same age as L’Enfant, born in 1754 to a Quaker family in Pennsylvania. Shortly before the war, his family moved to Maryland
Despite his Quaker background, Ellicott moved to Maryland before the war and took a position as a commissioned officer in the local militia. When war broke out, he served as a captain, later promoted to major. Ellicott was only 20 years old when the war began. He had little work experience other than work he did with his father. Little is known about his work as a surveyor before the Revolution, but he apparently did some of that work. He also taught mathematics in Baltimore. Near the end of the war, he began publishing his own almanac.
In 1784 Ellicott worked on refining and extending the Mason-Dixon line between Maryland and Pennsylvania. His surveying work continued into 1785, working on the western boundary of Pennsylvania. Over the next few years, Ellicott continued to find work as a surveyor, setting the northern boundary between Pennsylvania and New York, as well as the border between New York and Canada.
President Washington, a former surveyor himself, recommended Ellicott to the Commissioners in January. By February, Ellicott was already in Alexandria, ready to begin work.
To assist in the survey, Ellicott hired Benjamin Banneker. The two men had been neighbors ever since the Ellicotts moved to Maryland in 1772. Banneker was more than a decade older than Ellicott and was also an expert mathematician. Banneker had also written his own almanac and built a working clock mostly out of wood. He had one key thing in his background that had held back his career. He was a black man.
Banneker’s history is a unique and interesting one. His grandmother Molly Welsh, was an English dairy maid. One morning a cow kicked over her bucket of milk, changing her life forever. The owner accused Molly of stealing the milk. The was convicted and sentenced to become an indentured servant in Maryland. She worked on a tobacco farm for seven years. After completing her indenture, she amassed enough money to buy a farm and purchase two slaves recently imported from Africa.
One of those slaves was named Banneka. After a few years, Molly freed her slaves and married Banneka, in violation of colonial law. The couple had four daughters, one of whom, Mary, fell in love with another slave from Africa named Robert. Her father, Banneka, purchased Robert and set him free, allowing the couple to marry. Since Robert had no last name, he adopted the family surname of Banneks, later changed to Banneker. Benjamin was born to Mary and Joseph in 1731.
Being a free black man in Maryland was relatively rare. Benjamin’s earliest education came from his grandmother, Molly. He also attended a rare interracial school taught by a Quaker. Banneker continued to work on mechanical projects, but also inherited his family’s tobacco farm, which became his primary source of income.
In 1787 Andrew Ellicott’s father, George Ellicott, lent Banneker a telescope and several books on astronomy. The Ellicotts eventually bought part of Banneker’s farm providing him with enough money to focus on astronomy full time. In 1791, Andrew Ellicott approached the 60 year old Banneker to assist him in surveying the new federal city.
Designing the Federal City
Washington kept a close eye on the federal city project as it developed. Despite appointing like minded men to manage the establishment of the city, Washington still wanted to be involved personally. When the third session of Congress finally came to an end on March 3, 1791, Washington made plans to travel south and personally oversee the early efforts to establish the federal city.
On March 28, he was in Georgetown meeting with local land owners. Washington was a tough negotiator. He convinced the land owners to donate one half of their lands inside the district to the government. All of the land would be divided into lots so that the land retained by the owners would be interspersed among the public lands. This meant that the land they retained, which has once been near worthless country land, would become valuable city lots that they could sell at a substantial profit. The owners also agreed that the government would establish the roads across their land with no payments for the land used by roads. The agreement signed on March 30, gave to Washington “the sole power of directing the Federal City to be laid off in what manner he pleases.”
The government would sell some of the donated land to raise the funds necessary to build the new federal buildings. It would also require that anyone purchasing a lot in the district would have to build on it within a fixed period of time. This was designed to ensure that the new capital would have enough buildings to support public officials and employees, and not simply held by land speculators.
Over the course of the spring and summer, Ellicott and Banneker surveyed the district’s borders. L’Enfant drew up plans for the city’s layout. Washington personally approved L’Enfant’s early sketches in June. By August, L’Enfant completed his final detailed plans for the city's design. Washington, along with guidance from Jefferson and Madison, approved those plans.
L’Enfant’s plan started with a simple grid system. On top of that, he overlays a series of grand avenues that would connect various public buildings through diagonal roads. Everything centered around what L’Enfant called the Congress House, later the Capitol which he placed on the highest point of land near the center of the district. L’Enfant referred to it as Jenkins Hill since Thomas Jenkins was leasing that land at the time. It never really had a name before that. Eventually, it would be called Capitol Hill.
About a mile to the northwest, L’Enfant established the location for the President’s Mansion, also chosen for its location on higher ground. Between the two, the designer proposed a grand avenue, 400 feet wide, which people could enjoy. This eventually became the National Mall.
L’Enfant’s plan had its opponents from the beginning. Jefferson thought it was too much like European cities. Jefferson envisioned a much smaller and simpler capital city, spanning about 20 blocks from the Potomac River, in the area known today as Foggy Bottom. Jefferson wanted a simple grid system that represented republican simplicity and rationality. He objected to the grand avenues and circles.
Commissioner Stuart also thought it was too large in scale. The park around the presidential mansion seemed more fitting for a despotic government than a republic. Washington, however, liked the design, so L’Enfant’s plan went forward.
The city that L'Enfant designed would only take up about one-tenth of the 100 square mile district. In September, the Commissioners agreed to name the city Washington, and the district, Columbia.
Fights among those involved in the process began almost at the outset. The first public auction of land in Georgetown raised very little revenue, selling only 35 lots. L’Enfant, who objected to this early auction, refused to make his design of the city available to would-be bidders, meaning most people could not know how the lots would fit into the overall city plan.
Despite this inauspicious beginning, the building of Washington, DC had begun to take shape.
Next week: President Washington takes his southern tour, and gives his second state of the Union address.
- - -
Next Episode 371 Planning Washington, DC (coming soon)
Previous Episode 369 First Bank of the United States
 |
| Click here to donate |
 |
| Click here to see my Patreon Page |
An alternative to Patreon is SubscribeStar. For anyone who has problems with Patreon, you can get the same benefits by subscribing at SubscribeStar.
Signup for the AmRev Podcast Mail List
Further Reading
Websites
Residence Act of 1790 https://www.mountvernon.org/education/primary-source-collections/primary-source-collections/article/residence-act-of-1790
Washington proclamation establishing Washington, DC Jan 24, 1791: https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-07-02-0153
David Stuart: https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/david-stuart-1753-1814
Fletcher, Kenneth R. “A Brief History of Pierre L’Enfant and Washington, D.C.” Smithsonian Magazine, April 30, 2008. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/a-brief-history-of-pierre-lenfant-and-washington-dc-39487784
Pierre L'Enfant https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/pierre-lenfant
Molly Welsh Banneker: https://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2008/07/molly-welsh-banneker.html
Washington Diary for March, 1791 Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/01-06-02-0002-0002
“Agreement of the Proprietors of the Federal District, 30 March 1791,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-08-02-0016
Free eBooks
(from archive.org unless noted)
Brant, Irving James Madison: Father of the Constitution, 1787-1800. Bobbs-Merrill Co. 1950 (borrow only).
Byran, Wilhelmus B. A History of the National Capital, Vol. 1: 1790-1814. New York: MacMillan Co. 1914.
Delaplaine, Edward The Life of Thomas Johnson: Member of the Continental Congress, First Governor of Maryland, and Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, New York: Grafton Press, 1927.
Flanders, Henry. The Lives and Times of the Chief Justices of the United States Supreme Court. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1874.
Losing, Benson (ed) The Diary of George Washington, From 1789 to 1791, Richmond: Press of the Historical Society, 1861.
Malone, Dumas Jefferson and the Rights of Man, Little Brown and Co. 1951. (borrow only)
Mathews, Catharine Van Cortlandt Andrew Ellicott, New York: The Grafton Press, 1908.
Tindall, William Origin and Government of the District of Columbia, Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1909.
Books Worth Buying
(links to Amazon.com unless otherwise noted)*
Bordewich, Fergus M. The First Congress: How James Madison, George Washington, and a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government, Simon & Schuster, 2016.
Bordewich, Fergus M. Washington: The Making of the American Capital, Amistad, 2008.
Bowling, Kenneth R. Creation of Washington D.C.: The Idea and Location of the American Capital, Rl Innactive Titles, 1991.
Chernow, Ron Washington, A Life, Penguin Press, 2010.
Elkins, Stanley M. and Eric McKitrick, The Age of Federalism: The Early American Republic, 1788–1800, Oxford Univ. Press, 1993 (borrow on archive.org).
Ellis, Joseph J. Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation, Knopf, 2000.
Ferguson, E. James The Power of the Purse: A History of American Public Finance, 1776-1790, V-Books LLC, 2011.
Ferling, John Jefferson and Hamilton: The Rivalry That Forged a Nation Hardcover, Bloomsbury Press, 2013.
Leibiger, Stuart Founding Friendship: George Washington, James Madison, and the Creation of the American Republic, Univ. of Virginia Press, 1999.
Randall, Willard Sterne Thomas Jefferson: A Life, Henry Holt and Co. 1993.
* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
