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Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with Maryland to its north and east. It was named for George Washington, the first president of the United ...
- Background
- Origin
- Politics
Before Washington, D.C., became Americas capital in 1800, the Congress met in a number of different locations, including Baltimore, Trenton and New York City. After years of debate by the new nations leaders about the selection of a permanent seat of government, Congress passed the Residence Act in July 1790, which declared that the capital would b...
In January 1791, George Washington announced his choice for the federal district: 100 square miles of land ceded by Maryland and Virginia (in 1846, the Virginia land was returned to the state, shrinking the district by a third). In September 1791, the commissioners named the federal city in honor of Washington and dubbed the district in which it wa...
Congress met in Washington for the first time in November 1800 (the man for whom the city was named had died in December of the previous year), and in February 1801 the District of Columbia, which at the time also included the cities of Alexandria and Georgetown, was placed under the control of Congress. Today, Americas capital city has more than 6...
- Elizabeth Nix
Apr 15, 2016 · To this day, D.C. does not have voting representation in Congress, and the federal government maintains jurisdiction over the city. For proponents of D.C. statehood like Mayor...
2 days ago · The new federal territory was named District of Columbia to honour explorer Christopher Columbus, and the new federal city was named for George Washington.
Jun 17, 2020 · The U.S. Constitution (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17) instructed that the seat of government be a “District (not exceeding ten miles square)” over which Congress would “exercise exclusive...
- Becky Little
3 days ago · Washington’s governmental structure has slowly evolved into a limited form of self-government under the control of Congress. The city government is unique because Article I of the Constitution of the United States of America empowers Congress to exercise exclusive legislative authority over the seat of government.
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In September 1791, using the toponym Columbia and the name of the president, the three commissioners agreed to name the federal district as the Territory of Columbia, and the federal city as the City of Washington.
