Residence Act - Locating The Capital

Locating The Capital

The question of where to locate the capital was raised in 1783. Numerous locations were offered by the states to serve as the nation's capital, including: Kingston, New York; Nottingham Township in New Jersey; Annapolis; Williamsburg, Virginia; Wilmington, Delaware; Reading, Pennsylvania; Germantown, Pennsylvania; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; New York City; Philadelphia; and Princeton; among others. The Southern states refused to accept a capital located in the North, and vice versa. Another suggestion was for there to be two capitals. Congress approved a plan in 1783 for a capital on the Potomac, near Georgetown, in Maryland, and another capital on the Delaware River; this plan was rescinded the following year.

The issue of locating the capital was put on hold for several years, until the Constitutional Convention was held in 1787, to draft the United States Constitution. The Constitution granted power to Congress over a federal district, with Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution stating:

To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful buildings.

The debate heated up in 1789 when Congress convened. Two sites were favored by members of Congress: one site on the Potomac River near Georgetown; and another site on the Susquehanna River near Wrights Ferry (now Columbia, Pennsylvania). The Susquehanna River site was approved by the House in September 1789, while the Senate bill specified a site on the Delaware River near Germantown, Pennsylvania. Congress did not reach an agreement at the time.