Kasutaja:Makruss/DC ajalugu
Washington, the capital of the United States, is situated on the left bank of the Potomac River, 108 miles from its mouth in Chesapeake Bay: latitude (Capitol), N. 38° 53'; longitude, W. 77°. The original district (10 miles sq.) was reduced by the retrocession of Alexandria County to Virginia, in 1846, to the present approximate land area of 60 sq. miles. The population, according to census of 1910, was 331,069, and was classified as wholly urban: the county organization (Washington County, D.C.) was abolished in 1874, and the city of Washington is now coextensive with the District of Columbia. The larger part of the district is built up, and, because of its predominant urban character, whatever farm land exists possesses its chief value as a potential residence property.
The Continental Congress had held its sessions in different places, principally at Philadelphia, and there was no permanent seat of the general government until after the adoption of the Constitution of the United States. The following provision, enumerating the powers of Congress (Sec. 8, Art. I), was included in that instrument: "To exercise exclusive jurisdiction over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular States and acceptance of Congress, become the seat of Government of the Untied States". Various places were proposed, and much warmth of feeling and sectional jealousy were elicited in the debates on the resolutions and bills introduced before Congress on the subject: the States of Maryland and Virginia, in 1788 and 1789, had offered the requisite area, and the "acceptance of Congress", under Acts of 16 July, 1790, and 31 March, 1791, constituted the District of Columbia the seat of the national government. The territory thus selected was determined as to its exact location and boundaries by George Washington: it included within its limits the flourishing boroughs of Georgetown, Montgomery County (Maryland), and Alexandria (Virginia); the rest of the territory was rural. The president was also authorized to appoint three commissioners to lay out and survey a portion of the District for a federal city, to acquire the land, and to provide buildings for the residence of the president, the accommodation of Congress and the use of the government departments. One of the commissioners thus appointed was Daniel Carroll "of Duddington", of the family of Bishop John Carroll, and one of the principal landed proprietors of the District; Mayor Charles Pierre L'Enfant, a French Catholic, was employed to furnish a plan of the city, and to him the credit of its magnificent design is mainly due; James Hoban, a Catholic, won by competition the prize offered for a plan of the president's house, and the "White House" is constructed in accordance with his design. The corner-stone was laid (13 October, 1792) by President Washington, who also officiated at the laying of the corner-stone of the north wing of the Capitol (18 September, 1793): the site which the Capitol occupies was part of the land of Daniel Carroll, and was practically a gift from him to the United States.
The first local authorities of Washington were the president, three commissioners appointed by him, and the Levy Court; the city was incorporated in 1802, with a city council elected by the people, and a mayor appointed by the president. Robert Brent, a Catholic and nephew of Bishop Carroll, was the first mayor, and was annually reappointed by Presidents Jefferson and Madison until 1812; in 1812 the duty of electing the mayor devolved on the council, and from 1820 to 1871 on the people. In 1817 the charters of the corporations of Washington and Georgetown were abolished by Act of Congress; for a brief time the District was assimilated to a territorial form of government, with a board of public works as the most important administrative factor. Since 1878 it has been governed by a board of three commissioners appointed by the president, with the approval of the senate. The District of Columbia is neither a state nor a territory, but a municipal corporation, holding the same relation to the government of the United States that the other municipal corporations do to their own state governments. It has no share in the election of president, nor any district representation in Congress: its inhabitants have no voice in national legislation, and, since 1874, not even any part in local self-government, except by favour of Congress.