Skip to main content

Primary sourceDocument30 March 1791

Washington sets capital boundaries

George Washington · 30 March 1791

The 1791 proclamation, written by President Washington, fixing the boundaries of the new federal capital on the Potomac.

Washington personally wrote and issued this proclamation, fixing the boundaries of the capital that bears his name.

Ask George Washington about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Handwritten manuscript page in cursive ink, page number 191 at top right, headed 'By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation'. The text describes lines of experiment near Georgetown in Maryland for a ten-mile square seat of government, and an amendatory act of Congress on the third day of March.
George Washington, proclamation on the boundaries of the Federal capital, 30 March 1791.

About this source

What it is

This is a presidential proclamation written by George Washington on March 30, 1791, specifying the boundaries of the proposed federal capital, later Washington, D.C. It describes survey lines near Georgetown, Maryland, forming a ten-mile square for the seat of government.

Why it matters

Congress had given Washington the power to choose the exact site of the new capital under the Residence Act. This proclamation shows him personally carrying out that responsibility, fixing the boundaries that would shape the city named after him.

Look closer

  • Why might it matter that the president himself, rather than Congress, decided the exact boundaries of the capital?
  • What does the detailed surveying language suggest about how carefully this decision was made?
  • Why do you think the capital was placed near the Potomac, close to Washington's own home at Mount Vernon?

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