Washington District of Columbia History

Following the American Revolution, George Washington was elected the first U.S. President and plans were made for a new federal capital on the Potomac River. The cornerstone for the White House was laid in 1792. The Capitol building was started in 1793. Progress was slow and when President John Adams moved into the new Capitol in 1800, much remained to be done. The War of 1812 again pitted Americans against British forces and in 1814 the British burned the White House, Capitol and much of the District. American spirit survived. Washington DC rose from the ashes within five years stronger than ever.

In 1829, a British profession at Oxford died and bequeathed his fortune to establish an institute for public educations and research in Washington. Ironically, James Smithson had never visited the U.S., but the Smithsonian Institute stands proudly in his name. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation at the Ford’s Theatre. The Civil War brought big changes for Washington as Union soldiers poured in to protect the nation’s capital from Confederate forces. The war ended in 1865 and five days later President was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre.

Entering WWI, Washington experienced a boom that lasted until the Great Depression and did not return to prosperity until WWII. Dark days once again followed the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. That same year Martin Luther King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Race riots and years of struggle for civil rights followed and anti-Vietnam demonstrations reach critical mass by 1970. The terrorist attacks in New York City and on the Pentagon brought sadness to America on September 11, 2001 and drew the country into a War Against Terrorism. Washington DC is recognized as center of world power and a travel destination for millions each year.