The Reason Why DC Is Between Maryland and Virginia

when the US Constitution was signed in 1787 it authorized the establishment of a new federal district for the new nation three years later in 1790 President George Washington was given permission to choose the actual site a potential location was identified here at the confluence of the Potomac and Anacostia rivers it lay between the already thriving port cities of Alexandria Virginia and Georgetown Maryland and it was also conveniently right in the middle of the northern and southern states at the time much of present-day Washington itself was covered with low hills and trees it probably looked a lot like this stretch of the Potomac River today but in the late 18th century the region around the Potomac wasn't exactly wild flanking both banks of the river were farms and plantations many of which had been here for more than a century one of the largest belongs to George Washington himself it's known as Mount Vernon and stands on a spot high above the Potomac River south of Alexandria Washington's grand house is now a museum he took over his family's plantation here in the 1750s Washington went on to become one of America's biggest landowners at the time hundreds of slaves worked the fields at Mount Vernon where Washington grew tobacco wheat and corn while also experimenting with a wide range of other crops his operations here were far-reaching from agriculture to fishing to liquor Mount Vernon once had the largest distillery in the country which produced up to 11,000 gallons of whiskey a year thanks to his operations at Mount Vernon Washington knew well why the chosen site for Washington DC would be a good one as a teenager he had surveyed and created the first maps of what became the city of Alexandria later it was from Alexandria sport that he exported wheat and other products from Mount Vernon he knew that this port and the port of Georgetown on the opposite bank of the river would be useful assets to the nation's new capital placing it on the Potomac would also provide an important access route to the Ohio Valley which could help the nation expand to the west Washington finally decided to establish the new district and it's ten mile square right over the confluence of the Potomac and Anacostia rivers Maryland and Virginia would both provide the land and turn over their ports of Georgetown and Alexandria Washington then hired a French artist and engineer named Pierre L'Enfant to design a plan for a new capital and even though it was to be named after Washington himself he is said to have always referred to it only as the federal city

Channel: Smithsonian Channel

Views: 161,989

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Id: khsSb_2DXsI

Length: 3min 18sec (198 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 28 2015