Residence Act - Overview

Overview

Congress passed the Residence Act as part of a compromise brokered between James Madison, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. Madison and Jefferson favored a southerly site for the capital on the Potomac River, but they lacked a majority to pass the measure through Congress. Meanwhile, Hamilton was pushing for Congress to pass the Assumption Bill, to allow the Federal government to assume debts accumulated by the states during the American Revolutionary War. With the compromise, Hamilton was able to muster support from the New York State delegates for the Potomac site, while Virginia delegates gave support for the Assumption Bill.

The Residence Act gave authority to President George Washington to select an exact site for the capital, along the Potomac, and set a deadline of December 1800 for the capital to be ready. In the meantime, Philadelphia was chosen as a temporary capital. Washington had authority to appoint three commissioners and oversee the construction of Federal buildings in Washington, D.C., something to which he gave much personal attention. Thomas Jefferson was a key adviser to Washington, and helped organize a design competition to solicit designs for the United States Capitol and the President's house. The construction of the Capitol building was fraught with problems, including insufficient funds, and was only partially complete in November 1800 when Congress convened for the first time in the Capitol.