Capital Moves to D.C.: U.S. Government Relocates
The 6th United States Congress adjourned in Philadelphia on May 14, 1800, and federal employees began the monumental task of packing and transporting government records, furniture, and archives to the new capital in Washington, D.C. The move fulfilled the Residence Act of 1790, a compromise between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson: Hamilton got federal assumption of state war debts, and Jefferson got the capital relocated from the commercial North to a site on the Potomac River accessible to Southern states. The new city was carved from land donated by Maryland and Virginia and designed by Pierre Charles L'Enfant. President John Adams moved into the unfinished Executive Mansion (later the White House) in November 1800. Abigail Adams famously hung laundry in the East Room.
May 14, 1800
226 years ago
Key Figures & Places
session
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recesses
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Federal government of the United States
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Philadelphia
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Washington, D.C.
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6th United States Congress
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Recess (break)
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Federal government of the United States
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Philadelphia
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Washington, D.C.
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Pennsylvania
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Constitution of the United States
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What Else Happened on May 14
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