George Washington’s Washington: Visions for the National Capital in the Early American Republic (Early American Places Ser.)

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Description

This book traces the history of the development, abandonment, and eventual revival of George Washington’s original vision for a grand national capital at the Potomac. In 1791 Washington’s ideas found form in architect Peter Charles L’Enfant’s plans for the city. Yet the unprecedented scope of the plan; reliance at the sale of city quite a bit to fund construction of the city and the public buildings; the actions of unscrupulous land speculators; and the convoluted mixture of state, local, and federal authority in effect in the District all undermined Federalist hopes for creating a substantial national capital.

In an era when the federal government had fairly few responsibilities, the tangible intersections of ideology and policy were felt through the construction, development, and oversight of the federal city. Right through the Washington and Adams administrations, as an example, Federalists lacked the funds, the political will, and the administrative capacity to make their hopes for the capital a reality. Across much of the next three decades, Thomas Jefferson and other Jeffersonian politicians stifled the growth of the city by withholding funding and toughen for any project indirectly related to the workings of the government. After decades of stagnation, only the more pragmatic approach begun in the Jacksonian era succeeded in fostering development in the District. And all over these decades, driven by a mix of self-interest and national pride, local leaders worked to make Washington’s vision a reality and to earn the respect of the nation.

George Washington’s Washington isn’t simply a history of the city Right through the first president’s life but a history of his vision for the national capital and of the local and national conflicts surrounding this vision’s acceptance and implementation.

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