This page is a translated version of the page Washington, D.C./History and the translation is 12% complete.
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וושינגטון הוקמה כדי לשמש כעיר הבירה של המדינה החדשה. מיקומה נבחר משום שהייתה במרכז 13 המושבות החדשות, בין הצפון לבין הדרום. מקום העיר וושינגטון נבחר כחלק מעסקה שנערכה בין תומאס ג'פרסון לאלכסנדר המילטון בזמן ארוחת ערב שנערכה ביניהם.ג'פרסון הסכים לתוכניותיו של המילטון בדבר אגרות חוב פדרליות, והמילטון הסכים להעברת הבירה דרומה (קודם לכן שכנה הבירה בעיר פילדלפיה). על פי תכנונם שטח הבירה היה ריבוע ששטחו 260 קמ"ר.

Creation

ב-16 ביולי 1790 נחתם החוק הקובע את מיקום העיר על גדת נהר הפוטומק. השטח נתרם לממשל הפדרלי על ידי מדינות וירג'יניה ומרילנד. בשטח זה היו כבר קיימות שתי ערים על שתי גדות הנהר - ג'ורג'טאון ואלכסנדריה. ב-27 בפברואר 1801 נקבע שהעיר תהיה תחת פיקוחו ושליטתו של הקונגרס של ארצות הברית. ב-9 ביולי 1846 הוחזר השטח שהיה מדרום לנהר הפוטומק (כ- 100 קמ"ר) למדינת וירג'יניה, כולל העיר אלכסנדריה, וכיום הינו חלק ממחוז ארלינגטון.

ב-24 באוגוסט 1814 כבשו כוחות הצבא הבריטי את העיר וושינגטון במתקפה שביצעו כחלק ממלחמת 1812. הנשיא ג'יימס מדיסון נמלט לוירג'יניה והבריטים שרפו את העיר, לרבות את הקפיטול ואת בית הנשיא. כדי לכסות את הפיח שכיסה את בית הנשיא נצבע הבית בלבן - מה שיצר אגדה כי מאז הוא נקרא הבית הלבן, למרות שצבעו היה לבן מרגע בנייתו.

התיקון ה-23 לחוקת ארצות הברית שאושר ב- 29 במרץ 1961 התיר לתושבי העיר להצביע בבחירות לנשיאות ארצות הברית.

בשנת 1865 נרצח הנשיא אברהם לינקולן על ידי מתנקש בבית תיאטרון במרכז העיר וושיגנטון.

בשנת 1963 - מאות אלפי מפגינים למען שויוון זכויות לשחורים מאזינים לנאומו של מרטין לותר קינג "יש לי חלום", אשר היה אירוע מכריע בהענקת שיוויון זכויות לשחורים בארצות הברית.

בשנת 1972 אירעה פריצה לבניין ווטרגייט, מטה המפלגה הדמוקרטית בוושינגטון. שנתיים מאוחר יותר, כאשר מתברר כי מטה הנשיא היה מעורב בעניין, נאלץ ריצ'רד ניקסון להתפטר מתפקידו.

בשנת 1976 נפתחה לציבור הרכבת התחתית של וושינגטון.

בשנת 1990 הושלמה בניית הקתדרלה הלאומית של וושינגטון, שבנייתה החלה ב-1907 בסגנון התחייה הגותית ומשמשת כבית תפילה לאומי. הקתדרלה היא השישית בגודלה בעולם.

בשנת 2001 - בפיגועי 11 בספטמבר תקף ארגון אל קעידה את העיר, ומטוס חטוף פגע בפנטגון, בניין משרד ההגנה האמריקאי. במתקפה זו נהרגו 125 מעובדי הפנטגון ו-64 נוסעי המטוס.

The U.S. Capitol after the burning of Washington during the War of 1812

On July 16, 1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a new national capital to be located on the Potomac River, the exact area to be selected by President Washington. The initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles (16 km) on each side, totaling 100 square miles (260 km2), formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia. During 1791–92, Andrew Ellicott and several assistants, including Benjamin Banneker, surveyed the borders of the new federal district and placed boundary stones at every mile point. Many of the stones are still standing.

A new "federal city" was then constructed on the north bank of the Potomac, to the east of the established settlement at Georgetown. On September 9, 1791, the federal city was named in honor of George Washington and the district itself was named Columbia, which was a poetic name for the United States in use at that time. Congress held its first session in Washington on November 17, 1800.

Shortly after arriving in the new capital, Congress passed the Organic Act of 1801, which officially organized the District of Columbia and placed the entire area, including the cities of Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria, under the exclusive control of the federal government. Further, the unincorporated territory within the District was organized into two counties: the County of Washington to the east of the Potomac and the County of Alexandria to the west. Following the passage of this Act, citizens located in the District were no longer considered residents of Maryland or Virginia, which therefore ended their representation in Congress.

The first half of 19th century. Retrocession

Ford's Theatre in the 19th century, site of the 1865 assassination of President Lincoln

On August 24–25, 1814, in a raid known as the Burning of Washington, British forces invaded the capital during the War of 1812, following the sacking and burning of York (modern-day Toronto). The Capitol, Treasury, and White House were burned and gutted during the attack. Most government buildings were quickly repaired, but the Capitol, which was at the time largely under construction, was not completed in its current form until 1868.

In the 1830s, the District's southern county of Alexandria went into economic decline partly due to neglect by Congress. Alexandria had been a major market in the American slave trade and rumors circulated that abolitionists in Congress were attempting to end slavery in the District; such an action would have further depressed Alexandria's slavery-based economy. In 1840, Alexandria residents began to petition for the retrocession of the District's southern territory to Virginia. The state legislature voted in February 1846 to accept the return of Alexandria and on July 9, 1846, Congress agreed to return all the District's territory south of the Potomac River back to Virginia.

Confirming the fears of pro-slavery Alexandrians, the Compromise of 1850 outlawed the slave trade in the District, though not slavery itself. By 1860, approximately 80% of the city's 11,000 African American residents were free blacks. The outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 led to notable growth in the District's population due to the expansion of the federal government and a large influx of freed slaves.

Civil War and the first local government

President Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act in 1862, which ended slavery in the District of Columbia and freed about 3,100 enslaved persons, nine months prior to the Emancipation Proclamation. In 1868, Congress granted male African American residents of the District the right to vote in municipal elections. By 1870, the District's population had grown 75% from the previous census to nearly 132,000 residents.

Despite the city's growth, Washington still had dirt roads and lacked basic sanitation. The situation was so bad that some members of Congress suggested moving the capital further west, but President Ulysses S. Grant refused to consider such a proposal.

Crowds surrounding the Reflecting Pool during the 1963 March on Washington

In response to the poor conditions in the capital, Congress passed the Organic Act of 1871, which revoked the individual charters of the cities of Washington and Georgetown and a created a new government for the District of Columbia. The act provided for an appointed governor, a locally elected assembly, and a board of public works charged with modernizing the city. By creating a consolidated government for the whole District, the Organic Act effectively formed present-day Washington, D.C., as a single municipality.

In 1873, President Grant appointed an influential member of the board of public works, Alexander Robey Shepherd, to the post of governor. Shepherd authorized large-scale municipal projects, which greatly modernized Washington. In doing so, however, the governor spent three times the money that had been budgeted for capital improvements, bankrupting the city. In 1874, Congress abolished the District's local government and instituted direct rule that would continue for nearly a century.

20th century

The District's population remained relatively stable until the Great Depression in the 1930s when President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal legislation expanded the bureaucracy in Washington. World War II further increased government activity, adding to the number of federal employees in the capital; by 1950, the District's population reached its peak of 802,178 residents. The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified in 1961, granting the District three votes in the Electoral College for the election of President and Vice President, but still no voting representation in Congress.

After the assassination of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on April 4, 1968, riots broke out in the District. The riots raged for three days until over 13,000 federal and national guard troops managed to quell the violence. Many stores and other buildings were burned; rebuilding was not complete until the late 1990s.

In 1973, Congress enacted the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, providing for an elected mayor and city council for the District.

On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 and deliberately crashed the plane into the Pentagon in nearby Arlington, Virginia. United Airlines Flight 93, believed to be destined for Washington, D.C., crashed in Pennsylvania when passengers tried to recover control of the plane from hijackers.