Washington D.C.

The city of Washington D.C. was first founded when there was need for a new capital city in America. In the history of America, there have only been two Houses of Representatives, one of them was in New York and the other was in Philadelphia, however it became necessary for a city to be built for the precise purpose of being the capital of America. Washington was built during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, the capital needed to be in a separate district on its own so that it would not be within the jurisdiction of a government or state. Before the city could be built, however, a Resident Act had to be issued, this was done and the plans to build a city on the Potomac River were arranged. A man named Pierre L’ Enfant was the designer of the new capital, the architecture of the government buildings was very special, it was made to look like Greek and Roman architecture. Later in the building process, L’ Enfant was replaced by Andrew Ellicott, this was a result of some building conflicts. Many people wonder why it is called Washington D. C., Washington is obviously named after General George Washington, D stands for district, and C stands for Colombia, so the city is named after a famous war general and it is located in the District of Colombia. In 1800, Washington was officially made the capital city of the United States of America. The first president to reside in the President’s House in Washington was John Adams. During the War of 1812, Washington D. C. was raided by the British, and many government buildings were burned, including the Presidents House. Since it was made from bricks, the shell of the building was not harmed, so they simply repainted it, and restored the inside, saving a lot of money by doing this, and the building is still made of those same bricks. Today, Washington D. C. is highly populated and is still the capital of the United States. It is also home to many monuments, like the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial, and the Lincoln Memorial. Washington D. C. is a large and historical city that serves the same purpose that it did in the 1800’s, a place for the congress to reside and hold meetings.