THE CENTRE
HALL, PA,
The Ca im 1800
By ELMO SCOTT WATSON
" ws near for the final
Seventy-second cone
pitol
4
session
gress of th 'nited States to con-
vene in ins ston, it is Interesting
to recall thi n Congress
met for the first time in the present
years ago
more striking
evidence of the growth and progress
of this nation than a comparison of
present-day Washington and the
present magnificent structire which
houses the legislative part of our government
with the “new settlement” of Wi ing and
the uncompleted structure which was the be-
ginning of our National Capitol,
It will be remembered that the first Capital
of the new nation, which can into sing ns
the result of the Hev on
There It was on April 16, 3789, that
congress convened and the two houses
completing their organization by electing
Langdon of New npshire as tempora
ident of the senate and Frederick A. Mu
berg of Pennsylv:
met In Joint session to count the electoral votes
cast In the several state ww weeks before
and to proclaim offic
as speaker of the
Li
/ tion of George
Washington as President and John Adams as
Vice President.
On July 9, 17% YONLTes M «1 an act for
establishing Tmanent it of th feds
government and
fon by the Presider rei
J miles square, mewher n th Potomae
river, in the region beginning at th wuth of
the eastern on i
tending many n
fdent was authorize
sioners to “survey, ie an i !
trict selected and, prior f wember, 1800, they
were requ { i i
[a district *
vt oae
1353
ahle } t mmodation
gress and of th ident, and for the
offices of the gos nited States™
For the purpose of defraying the expenses of
the purchase of the land an he erection of the
buildings, the Preside: wins “authorized and
requested to accept grants of money.” It was
further provid
December vor
be removed fron ew York to
where it was to remain until ala 1800,
when It was to be transferred to the new Po
tomae district,
In accordance with this act President Wash-
ington In 1791 chose one county In Maryland
and one In Virginia, with the Potomae river
lowing ween, for the site of the new Na-
tional Capital which was to be known as the
District of Columbia, At first this district was
ten miles square or one hundred square miles
and contained 64.000 acroes of land, which was
ceded to the federal government by the two
states of Virginia and Maryland. But In 1848
all the land on the western se of the Potomae
was ceded back to Virginia and as a result the
Distriet of Columbia since that time contains
only 64 square miles,
As commissioners to “survey, define and lime
it” the district and to erect the “suitable bnild-
ings,” Washington named Gen, Thomas John
gon, who had been his intimate friend during
the Revolution, Dr. David Stuart of Virginia
and Daniel Carroll, a member of that {llnstrious
Maryland family. The commissioners decided
that the federal city should be named the “City
of Washington” In honor of the first President
and the plan of the city was to be made by
Ma). Pierre Charles L'Enfant, the young French
engineer and architect who had reconstructed
the buildings in New York and Philadelphia
used by congress,
In March, 1792, the commissioners advertised
in the newspapers of Philadelphia, Boston and
New York that they would give a lot In tha
city of Washington and $500 to the person who
should "produce to them the most approved
plan for a capitol to be erected In the city of
Washington.” Sixteen plans were submitted
in response to these advertisements but all were
rejected because they did not meet the require
ments. Then Stephen Hallate, a French archi
tect of New York, submitted a plan which met
with great favor ond It seemed that he was
about to be awarded the work,
But in the meantime William Thornton, a tak
ented Englishman living In New York, who
had a powerful friend in, the person of Thomas
Jefferson, then secretary of state, drew up an
elaborate plan for the Capitol and submitted it
to Jeltggson, who Iald it before Washington
nthusiastic endorse
it admirable and said
and conven!
oners, requesting
in pref
hem to do It "“w
R250
vis of the
E22 ky)
the
was
appoit
construct the Capitol
instead of brick as wna
+ stone was obtained
ry on Aquia creek. On September
cornerstone of the Capitol was lal
that time on the work of construction
ried on energetically,
In the meant & CONRress as pecting In
i ia and had made an appropriation
$46.02 “for the necessary expense of the
removal” of the government to Washington. In
June, 1500, all the records, papers, office furni-
ture, ete. of the various federal departments
were loaded on packet sloops at Philadelphia
and despatched for the new city on the banks
of the Potomac. The officials and clerks, num-
bering in all not more than two hundred. went
to Washington in lumbering stage coaches, ars
riving after a long, tiring journey of nearly a
week,
Mra, Adams, the wife of the Viee Presi
has left us a record of her adventures on
trip. Bhe says: “After leaving Baltimore we
wandered about for two hours without finding
fn guide or a path. Woods are all you can see
from the time you leave Baltimore until yon
reach the city, which Is 80 only In name. Here
and there is a small hut, without a glass win-
dow, interspersed among the forests, through
which you travel for miles without seeing a
human being.”
After enjoying the luxury of life In New York
and Philadelphia most of the government offi
cials looked with dismay upon this “wilderness
city set in a mudhole almost equal to the great
Serbonian bog,” as one of them described the
new Capital,
It was in such an environment as this that
the Sixth congress began its second session on
November 17, 1800, the first session held in
the new Capital. The north wing of the Capitol,
in which the session was held, was in a very in-
complete condition, and both houses were
crowded Into narrow, badly arranged quarters,
On the opening day President John Adams
appeared before a joint session of the two
houses and made the following Impressive ad-
dress:
“1 congratulate the people of the United
Btates on the assembling of congress at the
permanent seat of thelr government; and I con
gratulate you, gentlemen, on the prospect of a
residence not to be changed, Although there
is cause to apprehend that accommodations are
not now so complete as might be wished, yet
there is great reason to believe that this incon.
venlence will cease with the present session,
“It woul
of this nati
this solemn
Supreme
i
his hless
which
ceiving the i
President and the next
{By an amendment to
the electors are now requis
ly for President and Vi
When the electoral vot
found that the crafty p
Aaron Burr had resulte
self and Jeffegson, both
vote for Adams So the
into the house ‘of reprosentatis
greatest excitement, the house begs ba
for a President on February . 18 “here were
108 members from 10 states at ach state had
one vote with the majority of the nies neces
sary for a choice. The he
doors and balloting went on conti
and night.
On the first ballot eight states voted for Jef
ferson and six for Burr. Two states. Vermont
and Maryiand, were divided and could not cast
a vote. Ballot after ballot was taken with no
change in the result. Finally on February 17
f break came and Jefferson was elected Pres
fdent by the votes of ten states
During the balloting the excitement in the
country was intense. Charges of all Kinds flew
thick and fast. It was charged by the Demo.
eratic-Republieans that the Federalists were
voting for Burr to prevent an election until
after March 4 when they would usurp the of-
fice of President by making Chie! Justice Mar.
ghall of the Rupreme court, President. thus os.
tablishing a Federalist limited monarchy. On
the other hand the Federalists charged Jeffer
son with every sort of crime, asserted hg was
elected the Bibles would be taken away from
the people.
Finally the Federalist leader in the house,
James A. Bayard of Delaware, got control of
enough votes to be able to elect Jefferson or
prolong the contest. So he ‘made a deal with
Jefferson, receiving from him the assurance
that he would support the public credit, main.
tain the naval system and would not remove
from publie office certain minor officials on po-
litleal grounds. In return for this, Bayard ar
ranged for Vermont and Maryland to cast a
unanimous vote and give the two necessary
votes to Jefferson. Thus he was finally declared
elected and his inauguration took place March
4, 1801, the first President to be Inaugurated
in the new Capital of the United States,
(@ by Western Newspaper Union.)
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