The Creation of Washington D.C.: The Idea and Location of the American Capital

by Kenneth R. Bowling

Leaders of the American Revolution envisioned the United States as the next great world empire. George Washington and his allies, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, believed that the capital of that empire should be a commercial as well as political emporium. They spearheaded the effort to place it on the Potomac and make Virginia a preeminent commercial state. The Creation of Washington, D.C. covers the political struggle between the North and the South over the location of the American capital city and explains the origin of Congress's exclusive jurisdiction over the city.

Genres: History

270 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1991

Reviews

[Andrew R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great and thorough examination of the notion of what contemporaries envisioned when deciding what and where the capital should be. Some middle chapters were a little dry in their provision of detailed summaries of congressional debates, but otherwise pretty fantastic and eye-opening.

The blurb on the back of my hardcover edition is a tad misleading-- "may have contemporary resonance as debate about possible statehood heats up." I guess "may" is the operative word, as the only mention of such themes is found in a breezy epilogue. I also would have liked to have seen a chapter devoted to the 1846 retrocession of Alexandria, but perhaps it was outside of the work's scope.

[Julie H. Ernstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great history of the planning and design of our nation's capital in Washington, DC. Coupled with the permanent exhibit on the same subject at the National Building Museum (also in Washington, DC), this is a one-two punch for understanding the city in a whole new way.