222 The Early History of Washington, D.C.

Ben Franklin's World

Have you ever wondered how the capital of the United States came to be situated at Washington D.C.?

The banks of the Potomac River represent an odd place to build a national city, a place that would not only serve as the seat of government for the nation, but also as an economic, cultural, and intellectual hub. Still in 1790, the United States Congress passed the Residence Act and mandated that it would establish a new, permanent capital along the banks of the Potomac River. Why?

Adam Costanzo, a Professional Assistant Professor of History at Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi and author of George Washington’s Washington: Visions for the National Capital in the Early American Republic, joins us to consider questions of the national capital’s location and construction.

Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/222

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Complementary Episodes

• Episode 016: Alan Taylor, The Internal Enemy
• Episode 061: Edward Larson, George Washington in Retirement
• Episode 078: Rachel Shelden, Washington Brotherhood: Politics, Social Life, and the Coming of the Civil War
• Episode 099: Gautham Rao, Birth of the American Tax Man
• Episode 113: Brian Murphy, Building the Empire State

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