Skip to main content

Primary sourceDocument16 July 1790

Residence Act

First United States Congress · 16 July 1790

The 1790 law Washington signed that let him choose the site of the new national capital on the Potomac River.

Washington signed this act and used the power it gave him to choose the exact site of the new capital.

Ask George Washington about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Printed broadside of the Residence Act, 1790, a printed text on aged paper titled 'Congress of the United States: At the Second Session' with the act's clauses, signed by Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg, John Adams, and George Washington, and printed by Francis Childs and John Swaine.
Text of the Residence Act of 1790, which established the location of the U.S. Capital along the Potomac River, along with provisions that the Federal government would assume states' debts incurred during the American Revolutionary War.

About this source

What it is

The Residence Act of 1790 was a federal statute passed by the First Congress and signed into law by President George Washington on July 16, 1790. It established that the permanent seat of government would be built along the Potomac River, empowered Washington to appoint commissioners for the project, and set Philadelphia as a temporary capital until the new city was ready.

Why it matters

The act resulted from a political compromise among James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton, linking the location of the capital to Hamilton's plan for the federal government to assume state war debts. Washington's role in choosing the exact site, near his own home at Mount Vernon, gave him a personal stake in founding the new capital.

Look closer

  • Why might trading support for one law (debt assumption) for support on another (the capital's location) have been necessary in a divided Congress?
  • What does it suggest about Washington's influence that he was personally empowered to pick the site?
  • Why might placing the capital near Mount Vernon have raised questions about personal interest?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of George Washington on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More George Washington sources

Meet the AI George Washington →
Letter

Primary source

To John Augustine Washington, 18 July 1755

George Washington · 18 July 1755

Document

Primary source

General Orders, 9 July 1776

George Washington · 9 July 1776

Letter

Primary source

Circular to the States

George Washington · 8 June 1783

Oil portrait of an older man with powdered white hair, wearing a dark velvet coat, white cravat, and lace jabot, against a olive-brown background. A signature appears at lower right.Painting

Primary source

Portrait of George Washington by Wertmüller

Adolf Ulrik Wertmüller · 1795

Scan of a printed broadside titled 'The Address of Gen. Washington to the People of America, on his declining the Presidency of the United States.' It has a central engraved portrait of a man in military uniform with epaulettes, facing left, above dense small-print text in two columns. The paper is aged orange-brown.Speech

Primary source

George Washington's Farewell Address

George Washington · 19 September 1796

Ready when you are

Start chatting with George Washington now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions