View source for Residence Act

{{Short description|1790 law establishing the US national capital city}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Use American English|date = March 2019}}
{{Infobox U.S. legislation
| name = Residence Act of 1790
| fullname = An Act for Establishing the Temporary and Permanent Seat of the Government of the United States
| enacted by = 1st
| public law url = 
| cite public law = {{uspl|1|28}}
| cite statutes at large = [[s:United States Statutes at Large/Volume 1/1st Congress/2nd Session/Chapter 28|ch. 28]], {{USStat|1|130}}
| leghisturl = https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Residence.html
| introducedin = 
| introducedbill = 
| introducedby = 
| introduceddate = 
| committees = 
| passedbody1 = Senate
| passeddate1 = July 1, 1790
| passedvote1 = [https://web.archive.org/web/20230131153418/https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llac&fileName=001/llac001.db&recNum=520 14-12]
| passedbody2 = House of Representatives
| passeddate2 = July 9, 1790
| passedvote2 = [https://web.archive.org/web/20220921061130/http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llac&fileName=002/llac002.db&recNum=232 32-29]
| signedpresident = [[George Washington]]
| signeddate = July 16, 1790
| amendments = '''Act''' to allow the capital to encompass areas to the south of the Eastern Branch, including Alexandria, Virginia (1791), [[s:United States Statutes at Large/Volume 1/1st Congress/3rd Session/Chapter 17|ch. 17]], {{USStat|1|214–215}}<br />'''Act''' to retrocede Alexandria County, D.C. to the State of Virginia (1846), ch. 35, {{USStat|9|35}}
| SCOTUS cases = 
}}
[[File:Residence Act of 1790.jpg|thumb|The Residence Act of 1790]]
[[File:Jefferson sketch of washington march 1791.jpg|thumb|A sketch of Washington, D.C. by [[Thomas Jefferson]] in March 1791]]
The '''Residence Act of 1790''', officially titled '''An Act for establishing the temporary and permanent seat of the Government of the United States''' ({{USStat|1|130}}), is a [[United States]] federal [[statute]] adopted during the second session of the [[1st United States Congress]] and signed into law by [[President of the United States|President]] [[George Washington]] on July 16, 1790. The act provides for a [[capital city|national capital]] and permanent [[seat of government]] to be established at a site along the [[Potomac River]] and empowered President Washington to appoint commissioners to oversee the project. It also set a deadline of December 1800 for the capital to be ready, and designated [[Philadelphia]] as the nation's temporary capital while the new seat of government was being built. At the time, the federal government operated out of [[New York City]].

Congress passed the Residence Act as part of the [[Compromise of 1790]] brokered among [[James Madison]], [[Thomas Jefferson]], and [[Alexander Hamilton]]. Madison and Jefferson favored a southerly site for the capital on the [[Potomac River]], but they lacked a majority to pass the measure through Congress. Meanwhile, Hamilton was pushing for Congress to pass the [[Funding Act of 1790|Assumption Bill]], to allow the federal government to assume debts accumulated by the states during the [[American Revolutionary War]]. With the compromise, Hamilton mustered support from the New York State congressional delegation for the Potomac site, while four delegates (all from districts bordering the Potomac) switched from opposition to support for the Assumption Bill.<ref>Ellis, Joseph J., (2000) ''Founding Brothers'', Vintage Books, New York, NY, p. 73</ref>

==Background==
{{Further|List of capitals in the United States}}
At the outset of the Revolutionary War, the [[Second Continental Congress]] was meeting in [[Philadelphia]] at the [[Independence Hall|Pennsylvania State House]]. On account of British military actions, the Congress was forced to relocate to [[Baltimore]], [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania]], and then [[York, Pennsylvania]] for a time before it returned to Philadelphia.<ref name="reps-p240">{{cite book|last=Reps|first=John William|title=The Making of Urban America: A History of City Planning in the United States|url=https://archive.org/details/makingofurbaname0000reps/page/n6/mode/1up|url-access=registration|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/makingofurbaname0000reps/page/240/mode/2up|chapter=Chapter 9: Planning the National Capital|pages=240–242|location=Princeton, New Jersey|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|year=1965|isbn=0-691-00618-0|lccn=63023414|oclc=1150283404|access-date=January 15, 2021|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> Upon ratification of the [[Articles of Confederation]] in 1781, the [[Congress of the Confederation]] was formed, and Philadelphia became the new nation's first [[seat of government]]. However, Congress did not remain in the city long, for in June 1783, a mob of angry soldiers converged upon Independence Hall demanding payment for their service during the war. Congress requested [[John Dickinson (delegate)|John Dickinson]], the [[List of governors of Pennsylvania|governor of Pennsylvania]] to call up the militia to defend Congress from attacks by the protesters. In what became known as the [[Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783]], Dickinson sympathized with the protesters and refused to remove them from Philadelphia. As a result, Congress was forced to flee to [[Princeton, New Jersey]] on June 21, 1783,<ref>{{Harvnb|Crew|Webb|Wooldridge|1892}}, p. 66</ref> and met in [[Annapolis, Maryland|Annapolis]] and then [[Trenton, New Jersey|Trenton]], before ending up in New York. On October 6, 1783, while still in Princeton, Congress resolved itself into a committee of the whole, to take into consideration, respecting a place for the permanent residence of Congress.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=lljc&fileName=025/lljc025.db&recNum=120&itemLink=r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(jc02530))%230250129&linkText=1 |title=A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774 – 1875 |publisher=Memory.loc.gov |date= |accessdate=2022-03-18}}</ref> The following day, Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts motioned "that buildings for the use of Congress be erected on the banks of the Delaware near Trenton or of the Potomac, near Georgetown, provided a suitable district can be procured on one of the rivers as aforesaid, for a federal town".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=lljc&fileName=025/lljc025.db&recNum=127&itemLink=r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(jc02530))%230250129&linkText=1 |title=A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774 – 1875 |publisher=Memory.loc.gov |date= |accessdate=2022-03-18}}</ref>

During the mid-1780s, numerous locations were offered by the states to serve as the nation's capital, but the Continental Congress could never agree on a site because of regional loyalties and tensions.<ref name=Allen2001pp3-6>{{harvnb|Allen|2001}}, pp. 3–6</ref> Proposed sites included [[Kingston, New York]]; [[Nottingham Township, New Jersey|Nottingham Township]] in New Jersey; Annapolis; [[Williamsburg, Virginia]]; [[Wilmington, Delaware]]; [[Reading, Pennsylvania]]; [[Germantown, Philadelphia|Germantown, Pennsylvania]]; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; New York City; Philadelphia; and Princeton. The Southern states refused to accept a capital in the North and vice versa. Another suggestion was to have two capitals: one in the North and one in the South.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Panchyk |first1=Richard |title=Washington, DC, History for Kids: The Making of a Capital City, with 21 Activities |date=July 1, 2016 |publisher=Chicago Review Press |isbn=978-1613730065 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Whitfield |first1=Perter |last2=Speicher |first2=Lara |title=Cities of the World: A History in Maps |date=October 10, 2005 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0520247253 |page=199 }}</ref>

The [[United States Congress]] was established in 1789, after the ratification of the [[United States Constitution]], and New York City remained the temporary capital.<ref name=Allen2001pp3-6/><ref>{{cite book| last=Morison| first=Samuel Eliot| author-link=Samuel Eliot Morison| title=The Oxford History of the American People| url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordhistoryof00mori| url-access=registration| year=1965| publisher=Oxford University Press| location=New York| lccn=65-12468| page=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordhistoryof00mori/page/315 315]}}</ref> [[Article One of the United States Constitution#Section 8: Powers of Congress|Article I, Section 8, Clause 17]], of the new constitution authorized Congress to create a [[federal district]] outside of the state structure as the nation's permanent seat of government and granted Congress [[Federal jurisdiction (United States)|exclusive governing jurisdiction]] over it.<ref>{{cite web| last=Casey| first=Lee A.| title=Essays On Article I: Enclave Clause| work=The Heritage Guide to The Constitution| url=http://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/articles/1/essays/57/enclave-clause| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421180046/http://www.heritage.org/constitution#!/articles/1/essays/57/enclave-clause| url-status=unfit| archive-date=April 21, 2012| publisher=The Heritage Foundation| access-date=August 19, 2017}}</ref> The choice of a site was left for the new Congress to decide.

During the debate, two sites became serious contenders: one site on the Potomac River near [[Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)|Georgetown]]; and another site on the [[Susquehanna River]] near Wrights Ferry (now [[Columbia, Pennsylvania]]). The House approved the Susquehanna River site in September 1789, and the Senate bill specified a site on the Delaware River near Germantown, Pennsylvania. The House and Senate were not able to reconcile their two bills.<ref name="reps-p240"/>

==Compromise and adoption==
{{Further|Compromise of 1790}}
[[File:New York City Hall 1789.jpg|thumb|The Residence Act was passed in 1790, while Congress was convening at [[Federal Hall]] in [[New York City]].]]
The selection of a location for the capital resurfaced in the summer of 1790. At the same time, Secretary of the Treasury [[Alexander Hamilton]] was pushing for Congress to pass a financial plan. A key provision of Hamilton's plan involved the federal government assuming states' debts incurred during the [[American Revolutionary War]]. Northern states had accumulated a massive debt during the war, amounting to 21.5 million dollars, and wanted the federal government to assume their burden. The Southern states, whose citizens would effectively be forced to pay a portion of the debt if the federal government assumed it, balked at this proposal. Some states, including Virginia, had paid almost half of their debts and felt that their taxpayers should not be assessed again to bail out the less provident. Further, they argued that the plan exceeded the scope of the new constitutional government. [[James Madison]], then a representative from Virginia, led a group of legislators from the south in blocking the provision and preventing the plan from gaining approval.<ref name="Ellis-p48">{{Harvnb|Ellis|2002}}, pp. 48–52</ref>

When Jefferson met Hamilton at President Washington's residence in New York City in late June 1790, Jefferson offered to host a dinner to bring Madison and Hamilton together. Subsequently, a compromise was reached, in which the northern delegates would agree to the southerly Potomac River site, and in return, the federal government would assume debts accumulated by the states during the American Revolutionary War. Jefferson wrote a letter to [[James Monroe]] explaining the compromise.<ref name="Ellis-p48"/>

Congress agreed to the compromise, which narrowly passed as the Residence Act. Jefferson got the Virginia delegates to support the bill with the debt provisions, and Hamilton convinced the New York delegates to agree to the Potomac site for the capital. The bill was approved by the [[United States Senate|Senate]] by a vote of 14 to 12 on July 1, 1790, and by the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] by a vote of 31 to 29 on July 9, 1790.<ref name="residence act"/> Washington signed the act into law one week later on July 16.<ref name="residence act">{{cite book|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Residence_Act_of_1790 |title=Residence Act |publisher=[[Wikisource]] |access-date=August 24, 2022}}</ref> The Assumption Bill narrowly passed the Senate on July 16, 1790, followed by passage in the House on July 26.<ref>{{Harvnb|Elkins|McKitrick|1995|p=160}}</ref>

The Residence Act specified that the capital be located along the [[Potomac River]] between the Eastern Branch (the [[Anacostia River]]) and the [[Conococheague Creek|Connogochegue]] (near [[Williamsport, Maryland|Williamsport]] and [[Hagerstown, Maryland]]), and encompass an area of no more than "ten miles square" ({{convert|10|mi|km|0}} on a side, for a maximum area of {{convert|100|mi2|km2|0}}).<ref name="residence act" />

The act gave [[US President|US president]] [[George Washington]] the authority to decide the exact location and hire a surveyor. The President was required to have suitable buildings ready for Congress and other government offices by the first Monday in December 1800 (Monday, December 1, 1800); the federal government would provide financing for all public buildings.<ref name="residence act"/>

The act specified that the laws of the state from which the area was ceded would apply in the federal district. Thus, [[Maryland]] laws applied on the eastern side of the Potomac, and [[Virginia]] laws applied on the western side in the [[District of Columbia]] until the government officially took residence. Upon assuming control of the federal district in 1800, Congress would have full authority over local matters within the District of Columbia.<ref name="residence act"/>

To garner enough votes to pass the Assumption Bill, Hamilton also needed votes from the Pennsylvania delegates. That led to the decision to designate Philadelphia as the temporary [[capital city]] of the [[United States federal government]] for ten years until the permanent capital was ready.<ref>{{Harvnb|Miller|2003}}, p. 251</ref> Congress reconvened in Philadelphia on December 6, 1790, at [[Congress Hall]].<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/The_Senate_Moves_To_Philidelphia.htm |title=The Senate Moves to Philadelphia |publisher=United States Senate |access-date=December 12, 2008}}</ref>

==Implementation==
{{Further|History of Washington, D.C.|Timeline of Washington, D.C.}}
[[File:PhiladelphiaPresidentsHouse.jpg|thumb|[[President's House (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)|President's House]] in [[Philadelphia]] residence of the [[president of the United States]] from 1790 to 1800]]
[[File:Washington sets capital boundaries.jpg|thumb|First page of the proclamation issued by President [[George Washington]] on March 30, 1791, specifying the boundaries of the proposed [[federal city]]]]
Soon after signing the act, [[George Washington]] began work on the project. He and [[Thomas Jefferson]] personally oversaw the process as plans were developed and implemented.<ref>{{Harvnb|Elkins|McKitrick|1995|p=169}}</ref> Even as the project began to move forward, some held out hope that it would fail and that the capital would remain permanently in Philadelphia.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bowling|2000}}, pp. 3–4</ref> Pennsylvania's congressional delegation attempted to undermine the plan by introducing legislation allocating funds for federal buildings and a house for the president in Philadelphia.<ref>{{Harvnb|Elkins|McKitrick|1995|p=174}}</ref>

Although the legislation did not specify an exact location, Georgetown was assumed to be the capital. Washington began scouting the area to the southeast of Georgetown, near the [[Anacostia River]] (Eastern Branch). Some property owners told him they would sell land for the capital. Washington also looked at other sites along the Potomac. He decided that a few sites should be surveyed to provide specific details about the land and its ownership. Washington returned to Philadelphia in late November 1790 to meet with Jefferson. Then, the decision was reached to locate the capital at or adjacent to Georgetown,<ref name="reps-p240"/> just below the [[Atlantic Seaboard fall line|Fall Line]] and the [[head of navigation|farthest inland point for navigation]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-19-02-0001-0001|title=Founders Online: Locating the Federal District [Editorial Note]|website=founders.archives.gov}}</ref>

In January 1791, the president proceeded to appoint, in accordance with the Residence Act, a three-member commission consisting of [[Daniel Carroll]], [[Thomas Johnson (jurist)|Thomas Johnson]], and [[David Stuart (Virginia politician)|David Stuart]], to oversee the surveying of the federal district, and appointed [[Andrew Ellicott]] as surveyor. Washington informed Congress of the site selection on January 24. It suggested that Congress amend the act to allow the capital to encompass areas to the south of the Eastern Branch, including [[Alexandria, Virginia]]. Congress agreed with the suggestion, passing an amendment to the act that Washington approved on March 3, 1791. However, consistent with language in the original Act, the amendment expressly prohibited the "erection of the public buildings otherwise than on the Maryland side of the river Potomac."<ref name="reps-p240"/><ref>(1) {{cite book|last=Hazelton| first=George Cochrane Jr. |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028858078/page/n13/mode/1up|chapter=The National Capital|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028858078|title=The National Capitol: Its Architecture, Art, and History|location=New York|publisher=J.F. Taylor|year=1914|page=2|lccn=96845486|oclc=1848763|access-date=January 15, 2021|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}<br />(2) '''Act''' to allow the capital to encompass areas to the south of the Eastern Branch, including Alexandria, Virginia (1791), [[s:United States Statutes at Large/Volume 1/1st Congress/3rd Session/Chapter 17|ch. 17]], {{USStat|1|214–215}}</ref>

On March 30, 1791, Washington issued a presidential proclamation that established "[[Jones Point (Virginia)|Jones's point]], the upper [[Cape (geography)|cape]] of [[Hunting Creek]] in Virginia" as the starting point for the federal district's boundary survey and the method by which the survey should determine the [[Boundary Markers of the Original District of Columbia|district's boundaries]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Washington|first=George|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qhk_AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA254|title=Proclamation: Georgetown, March 30, 1791|work=The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources: 1745-1799|year=1792|editor=John C. Fitzpatrick|volume=31: January 22, 1790—March 9, 1792|location=Washington|publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|United States Government Printing Office]] (August 1939)|access-date=October 7, 2016}}</ref>

During the early spring of 1791, [[Pierre Charles L'Enfant|Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant]] began working on a [[L'Enfant Plan|plan for the capital city]] that identified the future sites of the "Congress House" (the [[United States Capitol]]) and the "President's House" (the [[White House]]).<ref>{{Harvnb|Allen|2001}}, p. 8</ref> Design competitions were then held to solicit designs for each of those structures. Architect [[James Hoban]] was selected to design the President's House, and no satisfactory drawings were submitted for the Capitol.<ref>{{Harvnb|Allen|2001}}, pp. 13–15</ref> A late submission by [[William Thornton]] was selected for the Capitol.<ref>{{Harvnb|Allen|2001}}, p. 19</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Frary|1969}}, pp. 34–35</ref> [[Étienne Sulpice Hallet|Stephen Hallet]] was hired to oversee construction, which got underway in September 1793. Hallet proceeded to make alterations to the design against the wishes of Washington and Jefferson and was then dismissed. [[George Hadfield (architect)|George Hadfield]] was hired in October 1795 as superintendent of construction but resigned three years later in May 1798 due to dissatisfaction with Thornton's plan and the quality of work done thus far.<ref>{{Harvnb|Frary|1969}} pp. 44–45</ref>

The original intention of the Residence Act was to use proceeds from selling lots in the District to cover the costs of constructing federal buildings in the capital. However, few were interested in purchasing lots. A shortage of funds further contributed to the delays and problems in building the Capitol and other federal buildings in Washington.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bowling|2005}}, p. 58</ref>

In early June 1800, President [[John Adams]] made his first official visit to Washington, which lasted for several days. Amid the "raw and unfinished" cityscape, the president found the public buildings "in a much greater forwardness of completion than expected." The Senate (north) wing of the Capitol was nearly completed, as was the White House.<ref>{{Harvnb|Smith|1962}}, p. 1036</ref> The president moved into the White House on November 1. [[First Lady of the United States|First Lady]] [[Abigail Adams]] arrived a few weeks later. The Senate of the [[6th United States Congress|Sixth Congress]] met in the Capitol for the first time on November 17, and on November 22, Adams delivered his fourth [[State of the Union Address]] to a joint session of Congress in the [[Old Supreme Court Chamber|Senate chamber]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Smith|1962|pp=1049–50}}</ref> The House (south) wing was not completed until 1811. Nonetheless, the House of Representatives began meeting there in 1807.{{Citation needed|date=August 2019}}

In February 1801, Congress approved the [[District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801|District of Columbia Organic Act]], which officially organized the [[Washington, D.C.|District of Columbia]]. Congress then became the district's exclusive governing authority.{{Citation needed|date=August 2019}}

==Retrocession==
{{Main|District of Columbia retrocession}}
In 1846, based on a petition to Congress by the residents of the Virginia portion of the district ([[Alexandria County, Virginia|Alexandria County]]) and the City of Alexandria, the area of {{convert|31|sqmi|km2|0}} which was ceded by Virginia was returned,<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.dchistory.org/publications/dc-history-faq/|title = Washington, D.C. History F.A.Q.|access-date = May 15, 2015|website = Historical Society of Washington, D.C.|archive-date = September 10, 2017|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170910142827/http://www.dchistory.org/publications/dc-history-faq/|url-status = dead}}</ref> leaving {{convert|69|sqmi|km2|0}} of territory originally ceded by Maryland as the current area of the district in its entirety.<ref name=hsw>{{cite web |title=Frequently Asked Questions About Washington, D.C. |url=http://www.historydc.org/aboutdc.aspx |publisher=[[Historical Society of Washington, D.C.]] |access-date=October 3, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100918042009/http://www.historydc.org/aboutdc.aspx |archive-date=September 18, 2010 }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|United States}}
* [[District of Columbia home rule]]
* [[Index of Washington, D.C.–related articles]]
* [[Outline of Washington, D.C.]]

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last=Allen |first=William C. |title=History of the United States Capitol: A Chronicle of Design, Construction, and Politics |url=http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate/capitol/ |publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|Government Printing Office]] |year=2001 |isbn=0-16-050830-4 |access-date=December 13, 2008 |archive-date=December 16, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216042325/http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate/capitol/ |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite book |last=Berg |first=Scott W. |title=Grand Avenues: The Story of the French Visionary who Designed Washington, D.C. |publisher=Pantheon Books |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-375-42280-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/grandavenuesstor00berg }}
* {{cite book |last=Bowling |first=Kenneth R. |title=Creating the Federal City, 1774-1800: Potomac Fever |publisher=American Institute of Architects Press |year=1988 |isbn=1-55835-011-X}}
* {{cite book |last=Bowling |first=Kenneth R. |title=Neither Separate Nor Equal: Congress in the 1790s |chapter=The Federal Government and the Republican Court Move to Philadelphia, November 1790 - March 1791 |publisher=[[Ohio University Press]] |year=2000 |isbn=0-8214-1327-9}}
* {{cite book |last=Bowling |first=Kenneth R. |title=Establishing Congress: The Removal to Washington, D.C., and the Election of 1800 |publisher=Ohio University Press |year=2005 |isbn=0-8214-1619-7 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Crew |first1=Harvey W. |last2=Webb |first2=William Bensing  |last3=Wooldridge |first3=John  |title=Centennial History of the City of Washington, D. C. |publisher=United Brethren Publishing House |year=1892 |location=Dayton, Ohio |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5Q81AAAAIAAJ |via=[[Internet Archive]] |access-date=April 23, 2017 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Elkins |first1=Stanley M. |last2=McKitrick |first2=Eric L. |title=The Age of Federalism: The Early American Republic, 1788-1800 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1995 |isbn=978-0195093810 }}
* {{cite book |last=Ellis |first=Joseph J. |title=Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation |publisher=Vintage |year=2002 |isbn=0-375-70524-4 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/foundingbrothers0000elli }}
* {{cite book |last=Frary |first=Ihna Thayer |title=They Built the Capitol |year=1969 |publisher=Ayer Publishing |isbn=0-8369-5089-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/theybuiltcapitol0000frar }}
* {{cite book |last=Miller |first=John |title=Alexander Hamilton and the Growth of the New Nation |year=2003 |publisher=Transaction Publishers |isbn=0-7658-0551-0}}
* {{cite book |last=Reps |first=John William |title=The Making of Urban America: A History of City Planning in the United States|url=https://archive.org/details/makingofurbaname0000reps |url-access=registration |chapter=Planning the National Capital |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |year=1965 |isbn=0-691-00618-0 }}
* {{cite book| last=Smith| first=Page| author-link=Page Smith| title=John Adams| volume=II 1784–1826| date=1962| publisher=Doubleday| location= New York| lccn=63-7188}}

==External links==
{{wikisource|Residence Act of 1790|Residence Act of 1790}}
* {{cite web|url=https://guides.loc.gov/residence-act |title=Residence Act: Primary Documents in American History |work=Library of Congress Research Guides|publisher=[[Library of Congress]]}}

{{George Washington|state=collapsed}}
{{Thomas Jefferson}}
{{James Madison}}
{{Alexander Hamilton}}
{{District of Columbia}}
{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:1790 in American law]]
[[Category:18th-century architecture in the United States]]
[[Category:Acts of the 1st United States Congress]]
[[Category:History of Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Legal history of the District of Columbia]]
[[Category:Presidency of George Washington]]
[[Category:United States federal government administration legislation]]