Washington DC. On November 17, 1800, Congress met for the first time in its new and current location.
Washington DC is the capital of the United States, it is a city located in the District of Columbia, and borders Virginia and Maryland. It is a city with a population of about 600,000 inhabitants, and was born during the 18th century to be the capital of the country, a distinction that New York and Philadelphia had previously held.
George Washington, the first president of the United States, was the one after whom the city was named, and Christopher Columbus, the discoverer, was the one after whom the district was named.
Washington is the political, economic, military and judicial center of the country, here we find the White House, the headquarters of institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, and other institutions.
Washington is an ideal city to visit and do cultural tourism. There are many monuments and museums to be found in this city. This city is the history of the United States, and it has an impressive complex of museums that we can visit to learn more about the history of this country.
The Pentagon, the Lincoln Memorial, the Obelisk, are some of the most outstanding museums in this city, which has an important network of hotels, apartments and houses where you can stay during your vacation in the United States.
Washington D.C. is also a university city, where a good part of the universities on the American east coast are concentrated. Here you will find very prestigious universities such as Georgetown, the oldest in the country. Also noteworthy are the Faculty of Law, or the Mount Vernom campus in Foxhall.
On the other hand, we also highlight Howard University, one of the oldest in the country, or the Catholic University of the United States, the Pontifical University, or the American University.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C. (/ˈwɑʃɪŋtʲən ˈdʲiˈsi/ in English), officially called the District of Columbia, is the capital of the United States of America. It is administered as a federal district, an entity separate from the fifty states that make up the nation, which depends directly on the federal government. The District of Columbia was founded on July 16, 1790, and in 1791 a new city called Washington was established within the district, east of the already existing Georgetown. In 1871, the governments of these two cities and the rest of the towns in the district were unified into a single entity, D.C.
It is located on the banks of the Potomac River and is surrounded by the states of Virginia to the west, and Maryland to the north, east and south.
Washington, D.C. was born as a planned city, and was developed in the late 18th century to serve as the permanent national capital, after various localities had held that position since the country’s independence in 1776; meanwhile, the federal district was formed to mark the distinction between the national capital and the states. The city was named in honor of George Washington, the first president of the United States. The name of the district, Columbia, is the poetic name of the United States, in reference to Christopher Columbus, the first explorer to reach America. The city is commonly called Washington, the District (the District) or simply D.C. (District of Columbia). In the 19th century it was also known as Federal City or Washington City.
The centers of the three branches of the United States Government are located in the District. Also located in the city are the headquarters of the World Bank, the IMF, the OAS, the IDB, and other national and international institutions, including professional associations and unions. Because of its political significance, Washington is a site of frequent demonstrations and protests, particularly on the National Mall. It is also a popular destination for tourists because of its many national monuments and landmarks. The city is a center of American history and culture, and is home to the world’s largest museum complex (the Smithsonian Institution), as well as art galleries, universities, cathedrals, performing arts centers and institutions, and native music venues.
The District of Columbia and the city of Washington are governed by a single municipal government. For practical purposes, they are considered the same entity. This has not always been the case: until 1871—when Georgetown ceased to be a separate city—there were multiple jurisdictions within the District. Although there is a municipal government—mayor and council—Congress has ultimate authority over the city and district, resulting in citizens having less self-government than state residents. The District has one delegate to Congress, who participates in debates but does not have voting rights.
The District of Columbia’s population is 646,449 as of 2013, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. The Washington, D.C. metropolitan area is the eighth largest in the United States, with more than 5 million residents, and the metropolitan area it forms with nearby Baltimore has a population exceeding 8 million. If Washington, D.C. were a state, it would rank last in land area (behind Rhode Island), second to last in population (ahead of Wyoming), 35th in gross domestic product, and first in population density.
Although the District of Columbia does not have a voting member of Congress, residents are still required to pay taxes to the federal government. This is different from U.S. territories, such as Puerto Rico, whose citizens generally do not pay individual income taxes. Residents protest the lack of voting rights, especially since the lack of representation in the British Parliament was one of the main reasons for the country’s independence from the United Kingdom. The city adopted a phrase from the Revolutionary War, «No taxation without representation,» to protest the lack of voting rights. The slogan also appears on license plates issued by the city.
19TH CENTURY
On August 24, 1814, Canadian forces under British command burned the city during the War of 1812 raid in retaliation for the sacking and burning of York (modern-day Toronto) during the winter months, which had left many Canadians homeless. President James Madison and other American forces were able to escape before British forces arrived and burned public buildings, including the Capitol, the Treasury Building, and the White House. American sailors also burned the Washington Navy Yard, to prevent ships and stores from falling into British hands. The house of the Commandant of the Marine Corps, located on the Marine Barracks, was one of the few government buildings not to burn and is now the oldest public building in use in Washington. The Patent Office was also saved from burning because the Superintendent of Patents pleaded with the British soldiers that if they destroyed it, it would be against human knowledge.
During the 1830s, the District of Columbia was home to one of the largest slave trades in the United States.
In 1846, the people of Alexandria County, economically resentful of the loss of the port of Georgetown, feared a greater impact if slavery were outlawed in the capital, so a plebiscite was held to return Alexandria to the Commonwealth of Virginia. Congress agreed, and Alexandria was finally transferred to Virginia on July 9 of that year. The sale of slaves, though not slavery, was outlawed in the capital as part of the Compromise of 1850.
Washington Monument
In 1860 Washington was a small city, with the census that year giving it a population of just over 75,000, but this changed when the American Civil War began in 1861. The significant expansion of the federal government to administer the war and its legacies such as veterans’ pensions led to remarkable growth in the city’s population. By 1870, the population of the District of Columbia had grown to nearly 132,000.
In July 1864, Confederate forces under General Jubal Anderson Early made a brief raid on Washington, culminating in the Battle of Fort Stevens. The Confederates were stopped, and Early retreated to the Shenandoah Valley. The fort is located near the present-day Walter Reed Army Medical Center in northwest Washington. This was the only battle where an American president (Abraham Lincoln) was present and under enemy fire.
In the early 1870s, Washington was granted territorial government, but the reputation of Governor Alexander Robey Shepherd led Congress to take over the governorship of the District of Columbia. Congress would run the District for the next century.
The Washington Monument was dedicated in 1888. There were various projects to develop the monumental aspect of the city, which included architects such as Frederick Law Olmsted and Daniel Burnham. However, construction of the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, and the building of Potomac Park did not begin until the early 20th century.
20TH CENTURY
Many agencies created to alleviate the situation of the Great Depression through Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal led to a remarkable increase in the city’s population, which continued through World War II. The District’s population peaked in 1950, when the census of that year recorded a total population of 802,178 people. At the time, the city was the ninth most populous in the country, just ahead of Boston and closing in on St. Louis. In the following decades, the population declined, reflecting suburban migration from many of America’s older urban centers after World War II.
The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified on March 29, 1961, allowing Washington, D.C. residents to vote in presidential elections and have their votes counted, since Washington, D.C. has a smaller electorate than the least populous state.
Following the assassination of civil rights activist Martin Luther King in Memphis on April 4, 1968, riots broke out in parts of the city. There was widespread violence that lasted four days, with some buildings being burned. When rioters came within two blocks of the White House, President Lyndon Johnson ordered more than 13,000 federal troops to occupy the city, the largest occupation of an American city since the Civil War. It took two years for the city to return to normal.
One of the most important events of that time in the city was the arrival of the subway. The first 4.6 miles of the Washington Metro opened on March 27, 1976. Today, the subway system links Washington and its suburbs with a network of 86 stations and 106 miles of track.
In 1973, Congress enacted the District of Columbia Home Rule and Government Reorganization Act, providing for the election of a mayor to the District’s city council. Walter Washington was the District’s first elected mayor in 1975. Marion Barry became mayor in 1979 and served three consecutive terms; however, after his arrest for drug possession in an FBI raid on January 18, 1990, and his sentencing to six months in prison, he did not seek re-election. His successor, Sharon Pratt Kelly, became the first African-American woman to lead a city of the size and importance of Washington, D.C. However, Barry ran for re-election in 1994, and defeated her to once again become mayor of the city. During his fourth term, the city became nearly insolvent and he was forced to relinquish financial control of the city to Congress. In 1998, Anthony A. Williams was elected mayor of the city and led it toward fiscal recovery.
During the 1970s, many called the district the “Chocolate City,” in honor of the city’s African-American culture. Popularized by two local disc jockeys, the nickname also references Parliament-Funkadelic’s 1975 album Chocolate City. Although the nickname did not catch on in society, it will always be a poignant reminder of the contributions to the city of icons such as Duke Ellington, Chuck Brown, and other famous African-Americans.
21ST CENTURY
On September 11, 2001, American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757, was hijacked and deliberately crashed into the Pentagon at 9:37 AM, across the Potomac River in Arlington County, causing a partial collapse of one side of the building. During an interrogation, al-Qaeda militant Abu Zubaydah told US officials that the intended target of hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 was the White House, while Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi Binalshibh said the intended target was the US Capitol.18There are also a number of conspiracy theories about the origin and course of the attacks. (9/11 Conspiracies)
On September 29, 2004, Major League Baseball moved the Montreal Expos to Washington for the 2005 season, despite opposition from Peter Angelos (owner of the Baltimore Orioles). The team was renamed the Washington Nationals. A dispute between the city council and MLB threatened to scupper the deal until a plan to build a new baseball field in the southeast of the District of Columbia, Nationals Park, was announced on December 21, 2004. The Washington Nationals played at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium until Nationals Park opened on the banks of the Anacostia River in 2008.
In addition, the city has experienced tremendous growth in the Massachusetts Avenue area, the Southwest Waterfront, H Street, and the intersection of Shaw Street and U Street. This entire area has undergone massive, extensive gentrification.
Topography
Washington, D.C. is divided into four quadrants: Northwest, Northeast, Southeast, and Southwest. The axes dividing the quadrants intersect right at the Capitol.
Washington, D.C. is located at 38°53′42″N 77°02′11″W (the coordinates of Mile Zero on the Ellipse). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 177 km² (68.3 mi²). Of this total, 159 km² is land and 18 km² (10.16%) is water.
Washington is surrounded by the states of Maryland (to the southeast, northeast, and northwest) and Virginia (to the west); it interrupts the border between the two states, which follows the course of the Potomac River. This river, as it flows through Washington, is almost entirely within the District of Columbia border because of colonial riparian rights between Maryland and Virginia.
The District has three major natural tributaries: the Potomac River, the Anacostia River, and Rock Creek. The Anacostia River and Rock Creek are tributaries of the Potomac River. There are also three man-made reservoirs:
Dalecarlia (which crosses the District’s northwestern border with Maryland).
McMillan (near Howard University).
Georgetown (upriver from Georgetown).
The highest point in the District of Columbia is at Tenleytown, at 125 meters above sea level. The lowest point is at sea level, which occurs along the banks of the Anacostia and all of the banks of the
Potomac, except for the highest part (the area of Little Falls and Chain Bridge).
The geographic center of the District of Columbia is located near 4th Street, L Street, and New York Avenue (not under the Capitol Dome, as is often stated).
Washington, D.C.’s landforms include Theodore Roosevelt Island, Columbia Island, the Three Sisters Islands, and Hains Point.
NATURE
Washington, D.C. has many natural areas and bird-watching sites within the city. The District of Columbia’s parks and natural areas include Anacostia Park, the U.S. National Arboretum, the massive Rock Creek Park, the Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park, Theodore Roosevelt Island, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, the Potomac River, and the Anacostia River.
The Potomac River, which flows through Washington, D.C., has been called one of the most natural urban rivers in the nation. The Potomac Gorge is considered one of the most significant natural areas in the entire national park system. The river was once considered a national disgrace by President Lyndon Johnson, but today it is home to a vibrant warmwater fish farm. Professional fishing tournaments have been held here, and naturally reproducing bald eagles have returned to the area.