USA > Washington > Standard history of the city of Washington from a study of the original sources > Part 3
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"Hamilton was in despair. As I was going to the Pres- ident's one day, I met him in the street. He walked me backwards and forwards before the President's door for half an hour. He painted pathetically the temper into which the legislature had been wrought, the disgust of those who were called the creditor States, the danger of the seces- sion of their members, and the separation of the States. He observed that the members of the administration ought to act in concert, that tho' this question was not of my depart- ment, yet a common duty should make it a common concern ; that the President was the center on which all administra-
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tive questions ultimately rested, and that all of us should rally around him and support with joint efforts measures approved by him; and that the question having been lost by a small majority only, it was probable that an appeal from me to the judgment and discretion of some of my friends might affect a change in the vote, and the machine of government, now suspended, might be again set in motion. I told him that I was really a stranger to the whole subject; not having yet informed myself of the system of finances adopted, I knew not how far this was a necessary sequence; that undoubtedly if its rejection endangered a dissolution of our Union at this incipient stage, I should deem that the most unfortunate of all consequences, to avert which all partial and temporary evils should be yielded. I proposed to him, however, to dine with me the next day, and I would invite another friend or two, bring them into conference together, and I thought it impossible that rea- sonable men, consulting together cooly, could fail, by some mutual sacrifices of opinion, to form a compromise which was to save the Union. The discussion took place. I could take no part in it but an exhortatory one, because I was a stranger to the circumstances which should govern it. But it was finally agreed that whatever importance had been attached to the rejection of this proposition the preservation of the Union and of the concord among the States was most important, and that therefore it would be better that the vote of rejection should be rescinded, to effect which some members should change their votes. But it was observed that this pill would be peculiarily bitter to the Southern States, and that some concomitant measure should be adopted to sweeten it a little to them. There had before been propositions to fix the seat of government either at Philadelphia or at Georgetown on the Potomac ; and it was thought that by giving it to Philadelphia for ten years and to Georgetown permanently afterwards this might, as an anodyne, calm in some degree the ferment which might be excited by the other measure alone. So two of the Potomac members (White and Lee, but White with a revulsion of stomach almost convulsive) agreed to change their votes, and Hamilton undertook to carry the other point.
"In doing this, the influence he had established over the Eastern members, with the agency of Robert Morris with those of the Middle States, effected his side of the agree- ment and so assumption was passed, and twenty millions
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of stock divided, among favored states, and thrown in as a pabulum to the stock-jobbing herd. This added to the number of votaries to the treasury, and made its chief the master of every vote in the legislature which might give to the Government the direction suited to his political veiws."
Two letters written by Mr. Madison to Mr. Monroe within a space of six weeks preceeding the final decision of the question in Congress give a very good idea of the apprehension which Mr. Madison felt that the measure for which he had labored so earnestly to locate the Capital City on the Potomac would be defeated. Under date of June 1, 1790, he writes :
"You will see by the enclosed paper that a removal from this place has been voted by a large majority of our House. The other is pretty nearly balanced. The Senators of the three Southern States are disposed to couple the permanent with the temporary question. If they do so, I think it will end in either an abortion of both, or a decision of the former in favor of the Delaware. I have good reason to ~ believe that there is no serious purpose in the Northern States to prefer the Potomac, and that if supplied with a pretext for a very hasty decision, they will indulge their secret wishes for a permanent establishment on the Dela- ware. As Rhode Island is again in the Union, and will probably be in the Senate in a day or two, the Potowmac has the less to hope and the more to fear from that quar- ter. "
Under date of June 17, 1790, he writes :
"You will find in the enclosed papers some account of the proceedings on the question relating to the seat of government. The Senate have hung up the vote for Balti- more, which, as you may suppose, could not have been seriously meant by many who joined in it. It is not improb- able that the permanent seat may be coupled with the temporary one. The Potomac stands a bad chance, and yet it is not impossible that in the vicissitudes of the bus- iness it may turn up in some form or other."
At the time of the passage of the Act of July 16, 1790, the Acts of cession of Maryland and Virginia were already in exist- ence. The Act of Maryland approved December 23, 1788, was a model of brevity, and provided merely :
"Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland, That the representatives of this State in the House of
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Representatives of the Congress of the United States, appointed to assemble at New York on the first Wednesday of March next, be, and they are hereby, authorized and required, on behalf of this State, to cede to the Congress of the United States any district in this State not exceed- ing ten miles square, which the Congress may fix upon and accept for the seat of government of the United States." The somewhat more extensive Act of Virginia, approved December 3, 1789, was as follows :
"I. Whereas the equal and common benefits resulting from the administration of the General Government will be best diffused and its operations become more prompt and certain by establishing such a situation for the seat of said govern- ment as will be most central and convenient to the citizens of the United States at large, having regard as well to population, extent of territory, and free navigation to the Atlantic Ocean, through the Chesapeake Bay, as to the most direct and ready communication with our fellow citi- zens in the Western frontiers; and whereas it appears to this assembly that a situation combining all the considera- tions and advantages before recited may be had on the banks of the river Potomac above tide water, in a country rich and fertile in soil, healthy and salubrious in climate, and abounding in all the necessaries and conveniences of life, where, in a location of ten miles square, if the wisdom of Congress shall so direct, the States of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia may participate in such location :
"II. Be it further enacted by the General Assembly, That a tract of country, not exceeding ten miles square, or any lesser quantity, to be located within the limits of this State, and in any part thereof as Congress may by law direct, shall be, and the same is, forever ceded and relinquished to the Congress and Government of the United States, in full and absolute right and exclusive jurisdiction, as well of soil as of persons residing or to reside thereon, pursuant to the tenor and effect of the eighth section of the first article of the Constitution of the Government of the United States.
"III. Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be herein construed to vest in the United States any right of property in the soil, or to affect the rights of individuals therein, otherwise than the same shall or may be transferred by such individuals to the United States.
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"IV. And provided also, That the jurisdiction of the laws of this Commonwealth over the persons and property of individuals residing within the limits of the cession afore- said shall not cease or determine until Congress, having accepted the said cession, shall by law provide for the gov- ernment thereof, under their jurisdiction, in the manner provided by the article of the Constitution before recited."
The result of the debate on this subject was the passage of the Act approved by President Washington July 16, 1790, accepting a site to be later more definitely located, which should lie upon the Potomac River at some point between the Eastern Branch and the Conogocheague, the latter being a small stream emptying into the Potomac from the Maryland side near Williamsport, about eighty miles above the present site of Washington and near the Battlefield of Antietam. This act passed the Senate on Thursday, July 1, 1790, by a vote of four- teen to twelve. It passed the House of Representatives on Friday, July 9, 1790, by a vote of thirty-two to twenty-nine.
The text of the Act is as follows :
"AN ACT for establishing the temporary and permanent seat of the Government of the United States.
"SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Con- gress assembled, That a district of territory, not exceeding ten miles square, to be located as hereafter directed on the river Potomac, at some place between the mouths of the Eastern Branch and the Connogochegue, be, and the same is hereby, accepted for the permanent seat of the Govern- ment of the United States: Provided nevertheless, That the operation of the laws of the State within such district shall not be affected by this acceptance, until the time fixed for the removal of the government thereto, and until Congress shall otherwise by law provide.
"SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States be authorized to appoint, and by supply- ing vacancies happening from refusals to act or other causes, to keep in appointment as long as may be necessary, three commissioners, who, or any two of whom, shall, under the direction of the President, survey, and by proper metes and bounds define and limit a district of territory, under the limitations above mentioned; and the district so defined,
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limited, and located shall be deemed the district accepted by this Act for the permanent seat of the Government of the United States.
"SEC. 3. And be it (further) enacted, That the said com- missioners, or any two of them, shall have power to pur- chase or accept such quantity of land on the eastern side of the said river, within the said district, as the President shall deem proper for the use of the United States and according to such plans as the President shall approve, the said commissioners, or any two of them, shall, prior to the first Monday in December, in the year one thousand eight hundred, provide suitable buildings for the accom- modation of Congress and of the President, and for the public offices of the Government of the United States.
"SEC. 4. And be it (further) enacted, That for defraying the expense of such purchases and buildings, the President of the United States be authorized and requested to accept grants of money.
"SEC. 5. And be it (further) enacted, That prior to the first Monday in December next, all offices attached to the seat of the Government of the United States, shall be removed to, and until the said first Monday in December, in the year one thousand eight hundred, shall remain at the city of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, at which place the session of Congress next ensuing the present shall be held.
"SEC. 6. And be it (further) enacted, That on the said first Monday in December, in the year one thousand eight hundred, the seat of the Government of the United States shall, by virtue of this act, be transferred to the district and place aforesaid. And all offices attached to the said seat of government, shall accordingly be removed thereto by their respective holders, and shall, after the said day, cease to be exercised elsewhere; and that the necessary expense of such removal shall be defrayed out of the duties on imposts and tonnage, of which a sufficient sum is hereby appropriated.
"Approved, July 16, 1790. (1 Stats., 130.)"
The Act of Congress of July 16, 1790, notwithstanding it was officially entitled "An Act for establishing the temporary and permanent seat of the Government of the United States," was generally referred to as the Residence Act, by reason of its purpose to establish a residence for the Government. It is
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by the latter name that it is mentioned in all the correspondence of the times, and the generality of the use of that name justifies its adoption for the sake of brevity in future references to the Act herein.
It is a matter of interest in connection with the proceed- ings leading up to the passage of this law, that evidence of the President's interference with the deliberations of Congress is singularly meager. This is doubtless owing to the fact that, notwithstanding the keen interest which he must have enter- tained towards the proposition to establish the seat of govern- ment on the Potomac, his invariable recognition of the propri- eties made him reluctant to obtrusively use his induence in support of a measure in which he necessarily had so strong a personal concern.
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That he was nevertheless, a close observer of the course of events, and that he was in conference with and probably helped to furnish arguments to Mr. Madison, who seenis to have led the fight for the site on the Potomac, is attested by the fol- lowing letter to Mr. Madison under date of August 18, 1788 :
"I am clearly in sentiment with you that the longer the question respecting the permanent Seat of Congress remains unagitated, the greater certainty there will be of its fixture in a central spot. But not having the same means of information and judging that you have, it would have been a moot point with me, whether a temporary residence of that body at New York would not have been a less likely means of keeping it ultimately from the center (being further removed from it) than if it was to be at Philadel- phia ; because, in proportion as you draw it to the center, you lessen the inconveniences and of course the solicitude of the Southern and Western extremities ;- and when to these are superadded the acquaintances and connections which will naturally be formed-the expenses which more than probably will be incurred for the accommodation of the public officers-with a long train of et ceteras, it might be found an arduous task to approach nearer to the Axis thereafter. These, however, are first thoughts, and may not go to the true principles of policy which govern in this case."
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Again, in a letter to Madison, under date of September 23, 1788, he writes :
"Upon mature reflection, I think the reasons you offer in favor of Philadelphia, as the place for the first meeting of Congress, are conclusive; especially when the farther agitation of the question respecting its permanent residence is taken into consideration."
If any further proof of Washington's interest in the premises were required, it is found in the untrammelled author- ity with which the Residence Act invested the President in carrying out the purpose of that Act coupled with the undivid- ed responsibility for the success of the undertaking, which the statute imposed upon him, obviously in accordance with his preference.
THOS. JEFFERSON
CHAPTER III
Selection of the Site and Acquisition of the Land for the City
ITH the passage of the Residence Act, Congress imposed upon President Washington the task of evolving out of the wilderness, within the space of ten years, a city equipped and ready for the reception of the National Govern- ment. It is difficult at this day to bring the mind to a just conception of the magnitude of this task. It was not in the mere administrative proceedings necessary to its performance, though these were formidable, that its chief difficulties lay. The great obstacle to be overcome was the devising and carrying out of a plan whereby the necessary ground should be acquired and the expense of laying out the city and erecting the public buildings be provided for; and this in the face of doubt, dis- trust, and jealous opposition in every quarter. The President in accomplishing this end was to find his resourcefulness, his great tact and unfailing patience, and his marvelous executive faculties taxed to the uttermost. It is indeed by no means unlikely that the votes necessary to the decision in favor of the Potomac would not have been forthcoming but for the secret conviction in the minds of many that, shorn as the Act was of any appropriation, it imposed upon the President the accomplishment of an impossibility. Certainly the task was one which none but a man of Washington's extraordinary capacity for achievement could hope to accomplish, and which none but a brave man could face without dismay.
From the outset President Washington was fortunate in hav- ing the enthusiastic and disinterested encouragement, and advice of his Secretary of State, Mr. Jefferson. It is interesting to
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speculate as to how far he would ever have gotten in carrying the Residence Law into effect but for the aid which Mr. Jeffer- son rendered during the early period when the wheels of the federal establishment were being put in motion. While it is impossible from the evidence at hand to be certain where to apportion the credit for what was done, the careful investigator will be forced to conclude that there is at least strong evidence tending to indicate that the solutions of many of the most dif- ficult problems which confronted President Washington were the product of the restless and versatile mind of Mr. Jefferson.
Perhaps the most satisfactory aspect of the association of these two men in this undertaking was the complete harmony that existed between them. President Washington, at all times reserving to himself the final decision, yet gave to the sugges- tions of Mr. Jefferson the most respectful and thorough consid- eration ; and Mr. Jefferson, while advancing his ideas with the earnestness of an enthusiast, nevertheless did so with the utmost diffidence; and when overruled yielded with a completeness that gave grace even to his reluctance.
That Mr. Madison, also, was an active worker for the new federal seat after the passage of the Residence Act, as he had been in advocating the adoption of the site on the Potomac, is strongly suggested by the evidence at hand, though this evi- dence is much more fragmentary and incomplete than that which testifies to the activities of Mr. Jefferson.
In putting the Residence Act into operation a number of important questions at once presented themselves to President Washington for his action. It was necessary in the first place to decide at what point on the Potomac River between the Eastern Branch and the Conogocheague the federal territory should be located, and to determine upon the extent and general outlines of the territory. It was necessary at an early date to select three Commissioners fitted for the difficult task of lay- ing out the new city and preparing the public buildings for the reception of the government. It was necessary to devise ways and means for acquiring title to such land as should be needed for government purposes and for obtaining the funds
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with which to erect the public buildings. Finally, it was neces- sary to determine upon the location and general plan of the city which was to be established within the federal territory. These matters demanded the personal attention of President Washington. The carrying out of such plans and methods of procedure as he should determine upon would rest in the main with the Commissioners to be appointed by him under the provisions of the Act.
The first active steps by President Washington toward carrying the Residence Law into effect appear to have been taken in the course of a trip to Mount Vernon in the interim between sessions of Congress during the months of September, October and November, 1790. On this trip he was accompanied by Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Madison.
There can be little question that from the outset the Presi- dent had a very clear idea as to the general location for the federal territory upon which he expected to decide. He was not unfamiliar with the country to which Congress had con- fined his selection. Five years before the passage of the Act for establishing the seat of government he had organized the Potowmack Company* which was to improve the navigation of that river and its tributaries so that the products of the upper country could be brought down the Potomac to communication with deep water shipping at Georgetown. He believed that the point of junction of the upper river navigation with ocean going vessels was destined to be a great commercial center. This point was at or near Georgetown, and the probabilities are that he gave little serious consideration to any other local- ity than the vicinity of that port, although, as will appear, he did in fact make an investigation with respect to the claims of the regions about the Monocacy and Conogocheague Rivers.
The President was greatly aided in his efforts by the fact that he was well acquainted with the prominent men residing near the Potomac within the limits prescribed by the Residence Act. Many of them had served under him in the Revolutionary
*The Potomac Route to the West, by Corra Bacon-Foster. Vol. 15, Rec. Col. Hist. Soc.
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Army, and others had been and were then associated with him in the affairs of the Potowmack Company.
During the course of the President's visit to Mount Vernon he proceeded energetically to ascertain the sentiment of the land owners at various points along the Potomac with regard to concessions they were willing to make with a view to obtain- ing the establishment of the federal city in their respective neighborhoods. It is evident that even at this time the President had given much thought to the problem of making some arrange- ment with the owners of the land which would provide for the financing of the city by means of sales of lots to be platted from land which should be conveyed by the original proprietors to the public on terms very favorable to the latter. The sub- ject was in all probability much discussed between the President and Mr. Jefferson, for in a series of notes in Mr. Jefferson's handwriting of proceedings to be had under the Residence Act appears the following query :
"When the President shall have made up his mind as to the spot for the town, would there be any impropriety, in his saying to the neighboring landholders 'I will fix the town here if you will join and purchase and give the lands ?' They may well afford it from the increase of value it will give to their own circumjacent lands."
Further on, going into the question of the legality of such a proceeding under the terms of the Residence Act, he says :
"6. The completion of the work will depend on a supply of the means. These must consist either of future grants of money by Congress which it would not be prudent to count upon -- of State grants-of private grants-or the conversion into money of lands ceded for public use which it is conceived the term 'use' and the spirit and scope of the Act will justify."
Having in mind this solution of the financial problem, the plan seems to have been early decided upon of playing the different localities against each other with a view to quickening among them a spirit of rivalry which should result in the most advantageous terms possible being granted to the public. On this point we again have the evidence of Mr. Jefferson's notes wherein he suggests :
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"2. That the President inform himself of the several rival positions; leaving among them inducements to bid against each other in offers of land or money, as the location when completed by the survey will not be mutable by the President, it may be well to have the offers so framed as to become ipso facto absolute in favor of the U. S. on the event which they solicit."
On their arrival at Georgetown, President Washington, Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Madison proceeded to ascertain the views of those owning property between Georgetown and the Eastern Branch. Two gentlemen in whom the President appears to have reposed considerable confidence were William Deakins and Benjamin Stoddert. Another was Charles Carroll. For the substance of the interviews with these gentlemen we are again indebted to Mr. Jefferson's notes. He says :
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