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History
Home » Washington, D.C. » Washington, D.C. Overview » HistoryWashington D.C. exists because of a compromise. During the framing of the constitution, several debates emerged between northern and southern states. During one of these debates, Alexander Hamilton suggested putting the nation’s capitol in the south, and so, Washington emerged, relatively in the middle of the new United States, but technically in the south.
The nation picked the French engineer Pierre L’Enfant to design the new city, and the city was named Washington after the country’s army commander and first president. The initials “DC” stand for District of Columbia, as the area is a federal district rather than a state and Columbia was a contemporary synonym for America.
Less than twenty-five years after George Washington moved his presidential office to the city, however, the city was nearly completely destroyed. During the War of 1812, the British army burned much of the city, and even First Lady Dolly Madison could only save a few items from the White House before she fled.
Wartime has always been a stress on the nation’s capitol, particularly during the Civil War, when Confederate war plans often targeted Washington and resident loyalties were divided. During later wars, Washington has been a hotbed of both patriotic fervor and peace protests.
Soon after World War Two, Washington grew tremendously and both population and business activity increased. During the 1960s, however, it was political activism that seemingly increased. The highlight of this activism was the 1963 March on Washington, which featured Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
Today, Washington continues to balance both its federal and local roles. Everything in the city, from commerce to real estate to tourism, revolves around the presence of the federal government. At the same time, however, the international and federal presence contributes to the overall character of Washington, which includes people from all walks of life.
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