January 17, 2023 • 34 mins
To understand the establishment of the city of Washington, DC by our nation’s founders is to understand the promise of the American experience and the challenges that remain to achieve that more perfect union.
In the Founding Father Legacy Series, Sharon Pratt, former Mayor of Washington D.C, explores the history of the founding of our nation’s capital, the role of the founders in the city’s creation, and the enduring idea of Washington as a symbol of democracy around the world.
This Series will look at the three men who were key to the creation of the nation and the city that is its capital, Washington, DC. Episode I explores the least well-known of the three, James Madison, and the role he played in founding our nation's capital. Mayor Pratt speaks with Fergus Bordewich, author of "Washington: The Making of the American Capital," about the characters, the compromises, and the politics of the new American capital.
In the Founding Father Legacy Series, Sharon Pratt, former Mayor of Washington D.C, explores the history of the founding of our nation’s capital, the role of the founders in the city’s creation, and the enduring idea of Washington as a symbol of democracy around the world.
This Series will look at the three men who were key to the creation of the nation and the city that is its capital, Washington, DC. Episode I explores the least well-known of the three, James Madison, and the role he played in founding our nation's capital. Mayor Pratt speaks with Fergus Bordewich, author of "Washington: The Making of the American Capital," about the characters, the compromises, and the politics of the new American capital.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:04):
To understand the establishment of the Cityof Washington, d C. By our
nation's founders is to understand the promiseof the American experience and the challenges that
remain to achieve that more perfect union. The City of Washington, d C.
Represents the unique expression of America andall its glory and all its contradictions.
(00:30):
It was founded in seventeen ninety asthe nation's capital, designed to be
an independent seat of government and asymbol of the new democracy known as the
United States. Millions of Americans visittheir nation's capital every year. Millions more
around the world visit Washington. Billionsmore citizens around the world know its name
(00:56):
and its role as a global cityand a symbol of democracy. Yet many
Americans may not fully appreciate that thecity was also founded as a result of
a political compromise, a compromise inspiredby founding fathers James Madison, Thomas Jefferson,
(01:18):
and George Washington. At the heartof the compromise was money finances.
State after state found themselves overwhelmed withdebt because of the Revolutionary War. Alexander
Hamilton, the first Secretary of Treasury, was terrified of how this could affect
(01:38):
the credit worthiness of this new nation. Many states were also anxious about establishing
the capital in a state unsympathetic toslavery. Slavery was a major economic engine
of America. In this series,I want to explore with you the history
(02:00):
of the founding of our nation's capital, the role of the founders in the
city's creation, and the enduring ideaof Washington as a symbol of democracy around
the world. I also want tomake clear that the hope of democracy is
still being played out in Washington andAmerica itself. I'm Sharon Pratt. I
(02:30):
was born and raised in Washington,d C. And in nineteen ninety one
was elected as the third mayor andfirst woman mayor of Washington DC. As
an American and as mayor, Ihave always been keenly interested in trying to
better understand the interplay of the highideals of our founders with the hard nosed
(02:55):
politics and practical governance of today.Being mayor of Washington, DC is unique
from any other American city. Iwas the mayor of our tax paying residence
while constantly protesting against our circumstance oftaxation without representation, something still denied to
(03:22):
Washingtonians even today. Our founding Father'sLegacy series will look at the three men
who were key to the creation ofthe nation and the city that is the
capital, Washington, DC. Thisseason, we'll start with perhaps the least
(03:44):
well known of the three, JamesMadison. He had his hand in virtually
every aspect of forging this new nationand the new Constitution. Many may not
realize he also had his hand inforging the District of Columbia. We will
be calling on historians and scholars aliketo help us fully fill in the role
(04:10):
that the founders played in the creationof Washington and the central role of the
city has played in the American dramathat has enfolded ever since. Every step
of the way throughout our history,Washington, d C. Has played a
central role, whether it was beingsacked and burned by the British in eighteen
(04:30):
fourteen, the most fortified city inthe world during the Civil War, home
to the Bonus Army demonstrations during theDepression, center of the Allied response in
World War Two, to the civilrights marches in the sixties, and the
Capital Insurrection in twenty twenty one.I am hoping that by having these discussions
(04:57):
and learning more about these men.We can see what they struggled with.
It helps us understand what they believedthe nation was supposed to become. Today,
I want to introduce our listeners tothe remarkable history of Washington and how
it symbolizes the promise of America andthe unfinished chapter of the American experience.
(05:23):
Fergus Borderwick, author of Washington,The Making of the American Capital, joined
me in a discussion about the characters, the compromises, and the politics of
the new American Capital. Let's justjump in. Fergus, welcome. You
(05:44):
do such a great job of chroniclinghow DC became the capitol. This Founding
Father's Legacy series focuses on the threeFounding Fathers who were determined to bring the
capital to the South along the banksof the Potomac. Your book makes it
was quite a debate, a lotof commotion around the location of the capital.
(06:05):
How did the debate begin and whowere the ones debating? Yes,
Indeed, the First Congress was thefirst Congress that met after the Constitution.
It was created by the Constitution,and that first Congress put flesh on the
Constitution by creating all the machinery ofgovernment which hadn't existed before, and it
(06:27):
created the US government as we knowit today, in the form that we
now cherish. It was invented essentiallythere in New York between seventeen eighty nine
and seventeen ninety one, and oneof the most vigorous debates, passionate debate,
sometimes bitter debate, was over wherethe nation's capital, permanent capital would
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go. We have to think ofwhat came before the constitution Articles of confederation.
Period immediately after the Revolutionary War hadended, became clear that these Articles
of Confederation were a recipe for anarchy. The country had no coherence. It
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had no coherence. The states didn'thang together. They were very rivalrous,
with different currencies, different laws,great suspicions one toward another, and not
only between north and south. Evennorthern states were suspicions of other northern states
and southern states of other southern states. So the constitution Constitutional convention was the
(07:33):
remedy. It was DRSA Plan B. Articles of Confederation were Plan A.
They didn't work. They failed.Constitution Plan B was to create a strong
central government, not necessarily strong aswe think of it in the twentieth century,
but a lot stronger than these veryweak articles of Confederation. The capital
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was migratory. It was in Philadelphiaduring the Revolutionary War. But a certain
event panicked the government, which isthis Revolutionary War soldiers, American soldiers essentially
went on strike. They besieged thePennsylvania State House for back pay. It
was a scene that was not unlikewhat happened at the US capital on January
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sixth. Thus, to say,very very angry soldiers, some of them
armed surrounding the Pennsylvania State House,which was right next door to where the
Continental Congress met. Terrified congressman.If it could happen once, it could
happen again. And the Congress thereuponbegan moving around to other locations. But
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it was extremely inefficient, as youcan imagine. Some members hated Princeton,
some of them hated New York,lots of them hated Pennsylvania at that point,
and so on. And the pressureto have a national capital, one
capital that would be a unifying symbolfor the new country gained more and more
(09:07):
traction. More and more people recognizethat as a good idea. There was
no unifying national symbol at all.And we forget that these were thirteen These
were thirteen little, little statelets thatwere half like independent countries and were very
doubtful about what they had in common. In many cases, so those who
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believed that these young states were inherentlya single nation, and that nation was
going to survive. If the Republicwas going to survive, it required a
stronger central direction, and part ofthat was having a capital that belonged to
all the states together, that wasn'tjust lodged in Pennsylvania under dare I say,
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perhaps the thumb of the Pennsylvania Stategovernment, or in Virginia under the
thumb of the Virginia State government.I mean, that's why ultimately the district
was created as a national zone.It was carved out, as you know,
of Maryland and a slice of Virginiainitially to become national territory. This
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was an innovation. It was revolutionaryin itself. There were initially not many
advocates for capital on the Potomac inVirginia, and at a certain point that
was almost abandoned as a possibility.There were advocates for Philadelphia. Many many
advocated for Philadelphia despite the fact thatthere were these anxieties about instability in Pennsylvania.
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There were advocates from New York City, which spent a great deal of
money renovating then magnificent building for theNational government to meet in. It was
renovated by Pierre L. Enfant,who like to be called Peter Levant,
and we know, of course asas the great designer of Washington, but
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he first redesigned the Federal Building inNew York City, marvelous building. New
York spent a great deal of moneyon other things to try to make the
place amenable to Congressmen. But therewere many other localities still lobbying for the
capital. Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Annapolis, Maryland, Trenton, New Jersey.
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And as the debate went on,it seemed that one one place had inside
track, then another head the insidetrack, and Congress was essentially at loggerheads
over where this capital would go.There was no clear majority for any one
of these locations. They all hadlet's say, assets and deficits. Madison
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and a group of allies, particularlyCongressman from the Potomac River Valley, both
Maryland and Ginia, with the supportof George Washington, no one no one
is a more passionate advocate of puttingthe capital on the Potomac than George Washington.
He believes in it, almost witha religious fervor. He believed that
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the Potomac River was going to bethe great highway into the interior of the
United States, the great commercial highway, that immigrants would come up to the
Potomac and cross the Appalachians and settlethe West. People didn't didn't phase anybody
that Washington stood too that his propertywould increase in value, along with other
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Potomac Valley congressmen and other interested parties. Madison somewhat. But Madison's property is
pretty far away from the Potomac.But Madison is a Virginian. He wants
he's a slave owner, as weknow, although that was not his primary
motivation on this Madison's primary motivation isto unify the country, protect this new
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government, make it work, dowhat's necessary to give it a firm founding.
And if a Southern capitol helps toprotect his own interests, well that's
good too. So at any rate, the Virginians become very active in lobbying
at this point, and they arelooking for allies. They're looking for allies.
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What's happening. At the same time, there's another issue that is tearing
Congress apart. It's very important,as many historians would probably say, it
was the more important of the two. That's to say, the United States
was profoundly dangerously in debt, adebt hanging over from the money bar during
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the Revolutionary War from European bankers.The United States is a debtor country.
It's a deadbeat country. It hasnot been paying its debts. Some states
have paid off their debts, manyothers have not. So there is a
lot of fierce debate over whether ornot the new nation should take on the
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debt of this all the states individuallyand pay it off. Very bitter debate
over this. Part of that debatehas to do with this. If the
national government takes over the debt,it will have to have a central financial
management, a national treasury. Forexample, the treasurer Alexander Hamilton, a
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Northerner, an anti slavery Northerner bythe way, and there is great resistance
to Hamilton's plan to take over,to nationalize the debt, the debts of
the states, and to use thatdebt essentially as a tool for borrowing in
the future when necessary. This wouldthis would be a financial innovation, so
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it's so radical at the time touse debt or as the basis for your
borrowing more money. Today it's takenfor granted. Then it was radical and
will frightening. So Alexander Hamilton isdesperate on the student desperate. He,
by the way, wants the capitalto stay in New York City. So
how was a deal made? Oneday, Thomas Jefferson sees Alexander Hamilton walking
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back and forth and back and forthon Lower Broadway in Manhattan. His hair
is disheveled or his wig. It'sprobably a wig. He hasn't slept,
he's hunched over. He sees hisfinancial plan, which is very important for
the future of the country, justgoing down in flames. Jefferson is Secretary
of State, by the way,he's not a member of Congress. Jefferson
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talks to Hamilton a bit. Herealizes how desperate he is. He essentially,
I was about to say he picksup the phone, but of course
they know telephones in seventeen but hefiguratively, if there were phones, this
is what he would do. He'dcall up his pal James Madison, say
hey, Jimmy, I've got adeal for you. I think we can
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work with Hamilton on this. Sohere's Madison on one side and Jefferson,
who very much want to bring thecapitol to the south, to the Potomac
Valley. Here's Hamilton, who wantsto keep the capital in New York,
but he needs support, particularly fromthe South, to pass his financial plan.
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These men meet in Thomas Jefferson's I'mgoing to say his back room.
It was actually his dining room onMaiden Lane, a small street in Lower
Manhattan. Over I suspect an extremelywell prepared dinner, and they cut a
deal. And this deal, thisis the original back room deal in American
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history. Hamilton will agree to provideenough Northern votes from his friends to help
the Virginians place the capital on thePotomac, and in return, the Virginians
will make available enough votes from theirfriends in the Potomac River Valley to pass
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Hamilton's financial plan. That's the deal. It works, it happens, and
like many many compromises in political life, nobody's all that happy about it.
You know, they get what theywant, but it's done in a way
that leaves everybody kind of grinding theirteeth. Lynn Manuel Miranda called it in
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the room where it happened, right, And James Hemmings, Sally Hemmings brother
is the one I think who preparesthe meal, does he not? That's
absolutely correct to James Hemmings is theother man in the room who doesn't have
a vote at the table. Isuspect that nobody asked him his opinion.
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But there he is. He's presentat the moment when one of the foundational
compromises in American history takes place.And in that sense, I think his
presence is really important. It's symbolic, but it's very important because there he
is the physical embodiment of Southern slavery, right there when three of the most
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powerful political men in the New Republicare shaping the future of the Republic,
and slavery, like Hemmings is alwaysthere over the shoulder of Americans in government.
And indeed, in a certain way, Hemmings's ghost looms over us today
if you want to care, lookat it the right. It was a
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bitter fight, it was, indeed, So why the bitterness on one level
a superficional level is regional. Differentlocalities wanted the capital for themselves. They
thought it would bring in a lotof investment, real estate, would increase
in value, cities would grow,become wealthier, and so on. Underneath
that is one of the central problemsof American history, which is slavery.
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Which is slavery, which is fundamentalto this debate, as it was fundamental
to the compromises that were made atthe Constitutional Convention, compromises which in practical
terms, favored the slave holding Southby giving them bonus votes in Congress by
including a proportion of the enslaved populationencounting population to allocate congressmen. So the
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way slavery figures into the debate overthe Capitol is this way. In seventeen
eighty nine nine virtually all states arestill slave states. Slavery has essentially died
in New England. It has becomeillegal in Massachusetts, and it's just at
the point of extinction in the restof New England. New York, on
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the other hand, New York andNew York, slavery is booming. The
number of enslaved people actually increased inNew York in the seventeen nineties, and
about twenty five percent of the residentsof New York City for slave owners.
People don't don't know this, butit was true. But all the same.
Nowhere in the North was slavery absolutelyfundamental to the economy the way it
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was south of Pennsylvania, as outof the Mason Dixon line, so to
speak. And bear in mind alsothat Virginia is by far the largest,
the most populous state, and alsothe largest in land area at the time.
Virginia swings a lot of weight inthe First Congress, as it did
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in the Constitutional Convention. Madison,Jefferson, and Washington are all Virginians,
Eminent Virginians. Representatives from the southernstates become increasingly uneasy with the prospect of
having the national capital in a northernstate, a free state. Slavery is
still technically legal in some ways inPennsylvania, but it's clearly on the way
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out. And Pennsylvania also has byfar the most active in l aquin emancipation
movement, abolitionist movement, and indeed, during the First Congress there is the
first lobbying campaign in American history wascarried out by Quakers, primarily from Pennsylvania,
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lobbying Congress, standing in the lobby, That's why we call it lobbying,
standing in the lobby of Congress,trying to persuade members to legislate against
slavery. They failed, they didnot succeed in that lobbying campaign, but
it's certainly scared congressman from further south, from the Carolinas, particularly from Georgia,
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from Virginia, Maryland as well.So there was growing resistance against any
capital in a northern state Pennsylvania orNew York, which was certainly a candidate
as well. By the same token, in the North. You can't say
that the abolitionist movement in the Northis very vigorous at this time. That
comes some decades later, but itdoes exist, and you had very significant
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figures, Alexander Hamilton among them,who were strong critics of slavery. Alexander
Hamilton was one of the founders ofthe New York Manumission Society. And Hamilton,
as of course, you know,was the first Treasury Secretary and a
pivotal figure in the first Congress andin the negotiations for the location of the
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capital. And so well, let'sgo back over how Madison was able to
marshal enthusiasm for this choice, becausein my mind, it was muddy nothingness
that they chose. I mean,they had nothing. They had. You
know, if you're going to Baltimoreor some other place. But you had
nothing here, you said in yourbook. I think that they put on
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a sort of the first campaign,a media campaign to build up enthusiasm.
How did they do that, Well, there was already, i would say,
a local lobbying campaign or publicity campaignin the Potomac Valley. There were
advocates for the Potomac, as wesaid earlier, the great commercial highway of
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the American future, leading to theheart of the continent. Washington was a
true believer in this himself. Therewere writers here in the Potomac River Valley
who envisioned a great cosmopolitan metropolis,a new London, London with a population
of a million people, a newParis, a new London rising here in
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the banks of the Potomac. Andthey spun these visions and in tracts and
burchures and essays. Now, mostAmericans didn't pay any attention to this at
the time, but there was thiskind of literature, in this kind of
thinking in the air, and advocatesfor the Potomac Valley were able to exploit
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these ideas in their discussions, theirdebates, their negotiations, and especially actually
when George Washington lent his great weight. Washington was godlike. Godlike Washington at
this juncture could pretty much have whateverhe wanted. He was a very cautious
man. He wasn't a wheeling anddealing politician. In fact, his preference
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was to let people in Congress workthings out on their own. Although he
and Madison conferred regularly. I thinkMadison was doing most of the talking rather
than Washington. But you can assumethat Madison had Washington's imprimature, his support
for anything he proposed. So theyget the seventeen ninety Residents Act right,
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Yes, that ensures that it willbe along the banks of the Potomac,
and they put all the power ofat least overseeing it with George Washington.
The Act stipulated that the capital shouldbe on the Potomac, it didn't actually
say where. And many members ofCongress, mostly the Northerners, who were
(25:06):
willing kind of uneasily to lend theirvote to this compromise that would put the
capital on the Potomac, really thoughtit was going to be way up the
Potomac, one hundred miles north ofwhere we are today, at that very
very narrow waste of the state ofMaryland, which is just a few miles
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from the Pennsylvania border. So thereforealmost in the north, in the uppermost
part of the South. Now thecapital isn't there, Why Congress empowered George
Washington to personally select the site,personally choose where the capital would go.
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Not so shockingly, George Washington chosethe absolute most southerly point permitted by the
Act, and the point closest tohis own properties at Mount Vernon and his
friends and allies properties in Arlincoln andAlexandria and so on. Washington made a
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bit of a show of traveling upthe Potomac and looking at different sites,
and then chose to put the capitolexactly where he wanted it in the first
place. All along, so wehave Madison who's playing the pivotal role legislatively
and in leading the effort to havethe capitol not in Pennsylvania for certain,
but really move it to a southernvenue. And that was driven by a
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certain amount of economics, with aninterest also there. He was very concerned
about protecting security of the new country. Jefferson, as usual, who's a
facilitator, and he's the one whoorganizes the meeting in fifty seven Maiden Lane.
And then you have George Washington,who always was careful never get his
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fingerprints on any deal, but whoultimately really really saw this as a gateway
to the West, if you couldever get it relocated here. So and
an interesting thing to me is,of course, as usual and I know
something about this Congress has all thesegreat ideas, but rarely gives you the
money to implement them. And herewe have the same dynamic with the new
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capital. You put your finger onone of the most dramatic day aspects of
the founding of the capital, whichwas the complete absence of almost complete absence
of funding for building this new city. Yes, some money was provided modest
amounds by Maryland and Virginia, notvery much, and not at the beginning
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either. So the development of thecity of Washington was dropped in the lap
of land speculators. That's the sameman who would buy the property and guarantee
to sell it at a profit thatwould benefit both themselves, of course,
but also benefit the new government.And it was widely assumed that the value
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of property here in the future cityof Washington would skyrocket astronomically as soon as
the boundaries of the district were drawn. So the two issues that ultimately resulted
in the compromise were basically capitalistic innature. That is, you know,
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securing the financial credibility of the countryby consolidating the debt and having the new
nation assume it. And then theissue in large measure around enslavement had everything
to do with economics. I thinkwe would be missing something if we ignore
the visionary element of this. Itreally required a kind of bold, risk
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taking, visionary quality to really makethe country work at the beginning too.
I think we have to credit atleast respect these aspirational energies that the founders
had. Two they really really wantedto make the country work. They saw
this country as as a great hopefor mankind and certainly as a birth of
(29:18):
freedom for white people, obviously notfor black people. But nonetheless, you
know, the machine that they thepolitical machine, the national machine that they
built, is still working for us, even when it's gears. They're out
of whack, as they say,often seem politically, and they weren't.
They weren't just self interested in mechanics, if you know what I mean.
(29:42):
No, I think I think whatyou say is so wonderfully true. I
think that the reason we're still inthe struggle is because it's so beautiful,
their hopes, their aspirations, thatsomebody would enter into a war, which
is part of why you liked it. One w to explore it barefooted,
taking on the most formidable navy inthe world, and that there were these
(30:07):
hopes and aspirations. So I absolutelythink that you are correct in highlighting that,
and I dare say, what keepsall of us trying our best to
move towards that more perfect union isour faith in that. You know.
(30:32):
My takeaway from our conversation with ferdusPortwick is that we needed a capital to
unite this enormous new nation from northto south. It spanned twelve hundred miles.
It was the largest nation in whatwas perceived as the Western world.
The capital is what was going tounite the states of America, and it
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was an essential part of forging anew nation. The invention of the capital
was aspirational. It was supposed toanimate the principles of a democratic nation.
D C was invented as the physicalexpression of a democratic government, and it
(31:17):
still serves as center stage for expressionsof democracy. Protests branches of government.
If you want a protest for abetter America, you come to Washington,
d C. Yet, the samepeople who went to war for taxation without
representation then built a city whose populationwould face the same fate for centuries.
(31:44):
In case you didn't know, Washingtonianscould not even vote for president until the
nineteen sixty four election. We stilldo not have elected voting members of the
United States Congress. The inherent contradictionsof Washington, Jefferson and Madison and their
(32:07):
impact on the city that would benamed for one of them, the first
President, will be part of ourconversation as we chronicle the development of Washington
with the evolution of the American historyafter the passage of our Constitution. As
we move through the series, we'lladdress these and other issues, trying to
(32:31):
come to terms with the nation's founders, their ideals, their contradictions, and
how the city of Washington sits atthe intersection of high ideals and unfulfilled promises
of our nation. At the endof the day, the story of Washington,
(32:52):
d C. Is the story ofAmerica. Thank you for joining us.
This episode was edited by baywulf Rockland, Roosevelt Heine and Lisa Chudy of
Two Squared Media Productions. Special thanksto Isabel Dorville for her research and production
(33:20):
support Folk Diversity for ensuring purposeful conversationswhen reflecting on our complex history, and
basking strategies for engaging our stakeholder community. Thanks as well to joy Ford Austin,
Jody Simuda, and Amy Anthony atthe Institute of Politics, Policy and
(33:43):
History. We are grateful to theKellogg Foundation for their generous support of this
founding father's Legacy series. Be sureto subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts back do
To understand the establishment of the Cityof Washington, d C. By our
nation's founders is to understand the promiseof the American experience and the challenges that
remain to achieve that more perfect union. The City of Washington, d C.
Represents the unique expression of America andall its glory and all its contradictions.
(00:30):
It was founded in seventeen ninety asthe nation's capital, designed to be
an independent seat of government and asymbol of the new democracy known as the
United States. Millions of Americans visittheir nation's capital every year. Millions more
around the world visit Washington. Billionsmore citizens around the world know its name
(00:56):
and its role as a global cityand a symbol of democracy. Yet many
Americans may not fully appreciate that thecity was also founded as a result of
a political compromise, a compromise inspiredby founding fathers James Madison, Thomas Jefferson,
(01:18):
and George Washington. At the heartof the compromise was money finances.
State after state found themselves overwhelmed withdebt because of the Revolutionary War. Alexander
Hamilton, the first Secretary of Treasury, was terrified of how this could affect
(01:38):
the credit worthiness of this new nation. Many states were also anxious about establishing
the capital in a state unsympathetic toslavery. Slavery was a major economic engine
of America. In this series,I want to explore with you the history
(02:00):
of the founding of our nation's capital, the role of the founders in the
city's creation, and the enduring ideaof Washington as a symbol of democracy around
the world. I also want tomake clear that the hope of democracy is
still being played out in Washington andAmerica itself. I'm Sharon Pratt. I
(02:30):
was born and raised in Washington,d C. And in nineteen ninety one
was elected as the third mayor andfirst woman mayor of Washington DC. As
an American and as mayor, Ihave always been keenly interested in trying to
better understand the interplay of the highideals of our founders with the hard nosed
(02:55):
politics and practical governance of today.Being mayor of Washington, DC is unique
from any other American city. Iwas the mayor of our tax paying residence
while constantly protesting against our circumstance oftaxation without representation, something still denied to
(03:22):
Washingtonians even today. Our founding Father'sLegacy series will look at the three men
who were key to the creation ofthe nation and the city that is the
capital, Washington, DC. Thisseason, we'll start with perhaps the least
(03:44):
well known of the three, JamesMadison. He had his hand in virtually
every aspect of forging this new nationand the new Constitution. Many may not
realize he also had his hand inforging the District of Columbia. We will
be calling on historians and scholars aliketo help us fully fill in the role
(04:10):
that the founders played in the creationof Washington and the central role of the
city has played in the American dramathat has enfolded ever since. Every step
of the way throughout our history,Washington, d C. Has played a
central role, whether it was beingsacked and burned by the British in eighteen
(04:30):
fourteen, the most fortified city inthe world during the Civil War, home
to the Bonus Army demonstrations during theDepression, center of the Allied response in
World War Two, to the civilrights marches in the sixties, and the
Capital Insurrection in twenty twenty one.I am hoping that by having these discussions
(04:57):
and learning more about these men.We can see what they struggled with.
It helps us understand what they believedthe nation was supposed to become. Today,
I want to introduce our listeners tothe remarkable history of Washington and how
it symbolizes the promise of America andthe unfinished chapter of the American experience.
(05:23):
Fergus Borderwick, author of Washington,The Making of the American Capital, joined
me in a discussion about the characters, the compromises, and the politics of
the new American Capital. Let's justjump in. Fergus, welcome. You
(05:44):
do such a great job of chroniclinghow DC became the capitol. This Founding
Father's Legacy series focuses on the threeFounding Fathers who were determined to bring the
capital to the South along the banksof the Potomac. Your book makes it
was quite a debate, a lotof commotion around the location of the capital.
(06:05):
How did the debate begin and whowere the ones debating? Yes,
Indeed, the First Congress was thefirst Congress that met after the Constitution.
It was created by the Constitution,and that first Congress put flesh on the
Constitution by creating all the machinery ofgovernment which hadn't existed before, and it
(06:27):
created the US government as we knowit today, in the form that we
now cherish. It was invented essentiallythere in New York between seventeen eighty nine
and seventeen ninety one, and oneof the most vigorous debates, passionate debate,
sometimes bitter debate, was over wherethe nation's capital, permanent capital would
(06:48):
go. We have to think ofwhat came before the constitution Articles of confederation.
Period immediately after the Revolutionary War hadended, became clear that these Articles
of Confederation were a recipe for anarchy. The country had no coherence. It
(07:09):
had no coherence. The states didn'thang together. They were very rivalrous,
with different currencies, different laws,great suspicions one toward another, and not
only between north and south. Evennorthern states were suspicions of other northern states
and southern states of other southern states. So the constitution Constitutional convention was the
(07:33):
remedy. It was DRSA Plan B. Articles of Confederation were Plan A.
They didn't work. They failed.Constitution Plan B was to create a strong
central government, not necessarily strong aswe think of it in the twentieth century,
but a lot stronger than these veryweak articles of Confederation. The capital
(07:59):
was migratory. It was in Philadelphiaduring the Revolutionary War. But a certain
event panicked the government, which isthis Revolutionary War soldiers, American soldiers essentially
went on strike. They besieged thePennsylvania State House for back pay. It
was a scene that was not unlikewhat happened at the US capital on January
(08:22):
sixth. Thus, to say,very very angry soldiers, some of them
armed surrounding the Pennsylvania State House,which was right next door to where the
Continental Congress met. Terrified congressman.If it could happen once, it could
happen again. And the Congress thereuponbegan moving around to other locations. But
(08:46):
it was extremely inefficient, as youcan imagine. Some members hated Princeton,
some of them hated New York,lots of them hated Pennsylvania at that point,
and so on. And the pressureto have a national capital, one
capital that would be a unifying symbolfor the new country gained more and more
(09:07):
traction. More and more people recognizethat as a good idea. There was
no unifying national symbol at all.And we forget that these were thirteen These
were thirteen little, little statelets thatwere half like independent countries and were very
doubtful about what they had in common. In many cases, so those who
(09:31):
believed that these young states were inherentlya single nation, and that nation was
going to survive. If the Republicwas going to survive, it required a
stronger central direction, and part ofthat was having a capital that belonged to
all the states together, that wasn'tjust lodged in Pennsylvania under dare I say,
(09:54):
perhaps the thumb of the Pennsylvania Stategovernment, or in Virginia under the
thumb of the Virginia State government.I mean, that's why ultimately the district
was created as a national zone.It was carved out, as you know,
of Maryland and a slice of Virginiainitially to become national territory. This
(10:15):
was an innovation. It was revolutionaryin itself. There were initially not many
advocates for capital on the Potomac inVirginia, and at a certain point that
was almost abandoned as a possibility.There were advocates for Philadelphia. Many many
advocated for Philadelphia despite the fact thatthere were these anxieties about instability in Pennsylvania.
(10:43):
There were advocates from New York City, which spent a great deal of
money renovating then magnificent building for theNational government to meet in. It was
renovated by Pierre L. Enfant,who like to be called Peter Levant,
and we know, of course asas the great designer of Washington, but
(11:07):
he first redesigned the Federal Building inNew York City, marvelous building. New
York spent a great deal of moneyon other things to try to make the
place amenable to Congressmen. But therewere many other localities still lobbying for the
capital. Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Annapolis, Maryland, Trenton, New Jersey.
(11:28):
And as the debate went on,it seemed that one one place had inside
track, then another head the insidetrack, and Congress was essentially at loggerheads
over where this capital would go.There was no clear majority for any one
of these locations. They all hadlet's say, assets and deficits. Madison
(11:52):
and a group of allies, particularlyCongressman from the Potomac River Valley, both
Maryland and Ginia, with the supportof George Washington, no one no one
is a more passionate advocate of puttingthe capital on the Potomac than George Washington.
He believes in it, almost witha religious fervor. He believed that
(12:13):
the Potomac River was going to bethe great highway into the interior of the
United States, the great commercial highway, that immigrants would come up to the
Potomac and cross the Appalachians and settlethe West. People didn't didn't phase anybody
that Washington stood too that his propertywould increase in value, along with other
(12:37):
Potomac Valley congressmen and other interested parties. Madison somewhat. But Madison's property is
pretty far away from the Potomac.But Madison is a Virginian. He wants
he's a slave owner, as weknow, although that was not his primary
motivation on this Madison's primary motivation isto unify the country, protect this new
(12:58):
government, make it work, dowhat's necessary to give it a firm founding.
And if a Southern capitol helps toprotect his own interests, well that's
good too. So at any rate, the Virginians become very active in lobbying
at this point, and they arelooking for allies. They're looking for allies.
(13:22):
What's happening. At the same time, there's another issue that is tearing
Congress apart. It's very important,as many historians would probably say, it
was the more important of the two. That's to say, the United States
was profoundly dangerously in debt, adebt hanging over from the money bar during
(13:43):
the Revolutionary War from European bankers.The United States is a debtor country.
It's a deadbeat country. It hasnot been paying its debts. Some states
have paid off their debts, manyothers have not. So there is a
lot of fierce debate over whether ornot the new nation should take on the
(14:03):
debt of this all the states individuallyand pay it off. Very bitter debate
over this. Part of that debatehas to do with this. If the
national government takes over the debt,it will have to have a central financial
management, a national treasury. Forexample, the treasurer Alexander Hamilton, a
(14:26):
Northerner, an anti slavery Northerner bythe way, and there is great resistance
to Hamilton's plan to take over,to nationalize the debt, the debts of
the states, and to use thatdebt essentially as a tool for borrowing in
the future when necessary. This wouldthis would be a financial innovation, so
(14:48):
it's so radical at the time touse debt or as the basis for your
borrowing more money. Today it's takenfor granted. Then it was radical and
will frightening. So Alexander Hamilton isdesperate on the student desperate. He,
by the way, wants the capitalto stay in New York City. So
how was a deal made? Oneday, Thomas Jefferson sees Alexander Hamilton walking
(15:15):
back and forth and back and forthon Lower Broadway in Manhattan. His hair
is disheveled or his wig. It'sprobably a wig. He hasn't slept,
he's hunched over. He sees hisfinancial plan, which is very important for
the future of the country, justgoing down in flames. Jefferson is Secretary
of State, by the way,he's not a member of Congress. Jefferson
(15:37):
talks to Hamilton a bit. Herealizes how desperate he is. He essentially,
I was about to say he picksup the phone, but of course
they know telephones in seventeen but hefiguratively, if there were phones, this
is what he would do. He'dcall up his pal James Madison, say
hey, Jimmy, I've got adeal for you. I think we can
(15:58):
work with Hamilton on this. Sohere's Madison on one side and Jefferson,
who very much want to bring thecapitol to the south, to the Potomac
Valley. Here's Hamilton, who wantsto keep the capital in New York,
but he needs support, particularly fromthe South, to pass his financial plan.
(16:22):
These men meet in Thomas Jefferson's I'mgoing to say his back room.
It was actually his dining room onMaiden Lane, a small street in Lower
Manhattan. Over I suspect an extremelywell prepared dinner, and they cut a
deal. And this deal, thisis the original back room deal in American
(16:44):
history. Hamilton will agree to provideenough Northern votes from his friends to help
the Virginians place the capital on thePotomac, and in return, the Virginians
will make available enough votes from theirfriends in the Potomac River Valley to pass
(17:06):
Hamilton's financial plan. That's the deal. It works, it happens, and
like many many compromises in political life, nobody's all that happy about it.
You know, they get what theywant, but it's done in a way
that leaves everybody kind of grinding theirteeth. Lynn Manuel Miranda called it in
(17:27):
the room where it happened, right, And James Hemmings, Sally Hemmings brother
is the one I think who preparesthe meal, does he not? That's
absolutely correct to James Hemmings is theother man in the room who doesn't have
a vote at the table. Isuspect that nobody asked him his opinion.
(17:49):
But there he is. He's presentat the moment when one of the foundational
compromises in American history takes place.And in that sense, I think his
presence is really important. It's symbolic, but it's very important because there he
is the physical embodiment of Southern slavery, right there when three of the most
(18:11):
powerful political men in the New Republicare shaping the future of the Republic,
and slavery, like Hemmings is alwaysthere over the shoulder of Americans in government.
And indeed, in a certain way, Hemmings's ghost looms over us today
if you want to care, lookat it the right. It was a
(18:33):
bitter fight, it was, indeed, So why the bitterness on one level
a superficional level is regional. Differentlocalities wanted the capital for themselves. They
thought it would bring in a lotof investment, real estate, would increase
in value, cities would grow,become wealthier, and so on. Underneath
that is one of the central problemsof American history, which is slavery.
(18:57):
Which is slavery, which is fundamentalto this debate, as it was fundamental
to the compromises that were made atthe Constitutional Convention, compromises which in practical
terms, favored the slave holding Southby giving them bonus votes in Congress by
including a proportion of the enslaved populationencounting population to allocate congressmen. So the
(19:23):
way slavery figures into the debate overthe Capitol is this way. In seventeen
eighty nine nine virtually all states arestill slave states. Slavery has essentially died
in New England. It has becomeillegal in Massachusetts, and it's just at
the point of extinction in the restof New England. New York, on
(19:45):
the other hand, New York andNew York, slavery is booming. The
number of enslaved people actually increased inNew York in the seventeen nineties, and
about twenty five percent of the residentsof New York City for slave owners.
People don't don't know this, butit was true. But all the same.
Nowhere in the North was slavery absolutelyfundamental to the economy the way it
(20:08):
was south of Pennsylvania, as outof the Mason Dixon line, so to
speak. And bear in mind alsothat Virginia is by far the largest,
the most populous state, and alsothe largest in land area at the time.
Virginia swings a lot of weight inthe First Congress, as it did
(20:29):
in the Constitutional Convention. Madison,Jefferson, and Washington are all Virginians,
Eminent Virginians. Representatives from the southernstates become increasingly uneasy with the prospect of
having the national capital in a northernstate, a free state. Slavery is
still technically legal in some ways inPennsylvania, but it's clearly on the way
(20:52):
out. And Pennsylvania also has byfar the most active in l aquin emancipation
movement, abolitionist movement, and indeed, during the First Congress there is the
first lobbying campaign in American history wascarried out by Quakers, primarily from Pennsylvania,
(21:14):
lobbying Congress, standing in the lobby, That's why we call it lobbying,
standing in the lobby of Congress,trying to persuade members to legislate against
slavery. They failed, they didnot succeed in that lobbying campaign, but
it's certainly scared congressman from further south, from the Carolinas, particularly from Georgia,
(21:37):
from Virginia, Maryland as well.So there was growing resistance against any
capital in a northern state Pennsylvania orNew York, which was certainly a candidate
as well. By the same token, in the North. You can't say
that the abolitionist movement in the Northis very vigorous at this time. That
comes some decades later, but itdoes exist, and you had very significant
(22:03):
figures, Alexander Hamilton among them,who were strong critics of slavery. Alexander
Hamilton was one of the founders ofthe New York Manumission Society. And Hamilton,
as of course, you know,was the first Treasury Secretary and a
pivotal figure in the first Congress andin the negotiations for the location of the
(22:26):
capital. And so well, let'sgo back over how Madison was able to
marshal enthusiasm for this choice, becausein my mind, it was muddy nothingness
that they chose. I mean,they had nothing. They had. You
know, if you're going to Baltimoreor some other place. But you had
nothing here, you said in yourbook. I think that they put on
(22:47):
a sort of the first campaign,a media campaign to build up enthusiasm.
How did they do that, Well, there was already, i would say,
a local lobbying campaign or publicity campaignin the Potomac Valley. There were
advocates for the Potomac, as wesaid earlier, the great commercial highway of
(23:07):
the American future, leading to theheart of the continent. Washington was a
true believer in this himself. Therewere writers here in the Potomac River Valley
who envisioned a great cosmopolitan metropolis,a new London, London with a population
of a million people, a newParis, a new London rising here in
(23:30):
the banks of the Potomac. Andthey spun these visions and in tracts and
burchures and essays. Now, mostAmericans didn't pay any attention to this at
the time, but there was thiskind of literature, in this kind of
thinking in the air, and advocatesfor the Potomac Valley were able to exploit
(23:52):
these ideas in their discussions, theirdebates, their negotiations, and especially actually
when George Washington lent his great weight. Washington was godlike. Godlike Washington at
this juncture could pretty much have whateverhe wanted. He was a very cautious
man. He wasn't a wheeling anddealing politician. In fact, his preference
(24:18):
was to let people in Congress workthings out on their own. Although he
and Madison conferred regularly. I thinkMadison was doing most of the talking rather
than Washington. But you can assumethat Madison had Washington's imprimature, his support
for anything he proposed. So theyget the seventeen ninety Residents Act right,
(24:41):
Yes, that ensures that it willbe along the banks of the Potomac,
and they put all the power ofat least overseeing it with George Washington.
The Act stipulated that the capital shouldbe on the Potomac, it didn't actually
say where. And many members ofCongress, mostly the Northerners, who were
(25:06):
willing kind of uneasily to lend theirvote to this compromise that would put the
capital on the Potomac, really thoughtit was going to be way up the
Potomac, one hundred miles north ofwhere we are today, at that very
very narrow waste of the state ofMaryland, which is just a few miles
(25:30):
from the Pennsylvania border. So thereforealmost in the north, in the uppermost
part of the South. Now thecapital isn't there, Why Congress empowered George
Washington to personally select the site,personally choose where the capital would go.
(25:51):
Not so shockingly, George Washington chosethe absolute most southerly point permitted by the
Act, and the point closest tohis own properties at Mount Vernon and his
friends and allies properties in Arlincoln andAlexandria and so on. Washington made a
(26:12):
bit of a show of traveling upthe Potomac and looking at different sites,
and then chose to put the capitolexactly where he wanted it in the first
place. All along, so wehave Madison who's playing the pivotal role legislatively
and in leading the effort to havethe capitol not in Pennsylvania for certain,
but really move it to a southernvenue. And that was driven by a
(26:37):
certain amount of economics, with aninterest also there. He was very concerned
about protecting security of the new country. Jefferson, as usual, who's a
facilitator, and he's the one whoorganizes the meeting in fifty seven Maiden Lane.
And then you have George Washington,who always was careful never get his
(27:00):
fingerprints on any deal, but whoultimately really really saw this as a gateway
to the West, if you couldever get it relocated here. So and
an interesting thing to me is,of course, as usual and I know
something about this Congress has all thesegreat ideas, but rarely gives you the
money to implement them. And herewe have the same dynamic with the new
(27:26):
capital. You put your finger onone of the most dramatic day aspects of
the founding of the capital, whichwas the complete absence of almost complete absence
of funding for building this new city. Yes, some money was provided modest
amounds by Maryland and Virginia, notvery much, and not at the beginning
(27:48):
either. So the development of thecity of Washington was dropped in the lap
of land speculators. That's the sameman who would buy the property and guarantee
to sell it at a profit thatwould benefit both themselves, of course,
but also benefit the new government.And it was widely assumed that the value
(28:11):
of property here in the future cityof Washington would skyrocket astronomically as soon as
the boundaries of the district were drawn. So the two issues that ultimately resulted
in the compromise were basically capitalistic innature. That is, you know,
(28:32):
securing the financial credibility of the countryby consolidating the debt and having the new
nation assume it. And then theissue in large measure around enslavement had everything
to do with economics. I thinkwe would be missing something if we ignore
the visionary element of this. Itreally required a kind of bold, risk
(28:56):
taking, visionary quality to really makethe country work at the beginning too.
I think we have to credit atleast respect these aspirational energies that the founders
had. Two they really really wantedto make the country work. They saw
this country as as a great hopefor mankind and certainly as a birth of
(29:18):
freedom for white people, obviously notfor black people. But nonetheless, you
know, the machine that they thepolitical machine, the national machine that they
built, is still working for us, even when it's gears. They're out
of whack, as they say,often seem politically, and they weren't.
They weren't just self interested in mechanics, if you know what I mean.
(29:42):
No, I think I think whatyou say is so wonderfully true. I
think that the reason we're still inthe struggle is because it's so beautiful,
their hopes, their aspirations, thatsomebody would enter into a war, which
is part of why you liked it. One w to explore it barefooted,
taking on the most formidable navy inthe world, and that there were these
(30:07):
hopes and aspirations. So I absolutelythink that you are correct in highlighting that,
and I dare say, what keepsall of us trying our best to
move towards that more perfect union isour faith in that. You know.
(30:32):
My takeaway from our conversation with ferdusPortwick is that we needed a capital to
unite this enormous new nation from northto south. It spanned twelve hundred miles.
It was the largest nation in whatwas perceived as the Western world.
The capital is what was going tounite the states of America, and it
(30:55):
was an essential part of forging anew nation. The invention of the capital
was aspirational. It was supposed toanimate the principles of a democratic nation.
D C was invented as the physicalexpression of a democratic government, and it
(31:17):
still serves as center stage for expressionsof democracy. Protests branches of government.
If you want a protest for abetter America, you come to Washington,
d C. Yet, the samepeople who went to war for taxation without
representation then built a city whose populationwould face the same fate for centuries.
(31:44):
In case you didn't know, Washingtonianscould not even vote for president until the
nineteen sixty four election. We stilldo not have elected voting members of the
United States Congress. The inherent contradictionsof Washington, Jefferson and Madison and their
(32:07):
impact on the city that would benamed for one of them, the first
President, will be part of ourconversation as we chronicle the development of Washington
with the evolution of the American historyafter the passage of our Constitution. As
we move through the series, we'lladdress these and other issues, trying to
(32:31):
come to terms with the nation's founders, their ideals, their contradictions, and
how the city of Washington sits atthe intersection of high ideals and unfulfilled promises
of our nation. At the endof the day, the story of Washington,
(32:52):
d C. Is the story ofAmerica. Thank you for joining us.
This episode was edited by baywulf Rockland, Roosevelt Heine and Lisa Chudy of
Two Squared Media Productions. Special thanksto Isabel Dorville for her research and production
(33:20):
support Folk Diversity for ensuring purposeful conversationswhen reflecting on our complex history, and
basking strategies for engaging our stakeholder community. Thanks as well to joy Ford Austin,
Jody Simuda, and Amy Anthony atthe Institute of Politics, Policy and
(33:43):
History. We are grateful to theKellogg Foundation for their generous support of this
founding father's Legacy series. Be sureto subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts back do
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