1791 George Washington - Residence Act and the Compromise of 1790

On July 16, 1790 George Washington signed into law the Residence Act of 1790.  This act settled the question of where the capital of the United State would be located.   The site selected as along the Potomac River between Virginia and Maryland.   This act was passed as part of the Compromise of 1790 brokered between James Madison, Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Hamilton.  Numerous locations for the capital were raised initially in 1783, but sectional pride led to a plan for two capitals.  One in Maryland and another in Delaware.   The plan was rescinded the next year, and the issue of locating the capital was put on hold until 1787 when the constitution was drafted.   The Constitution gave Congress the power of exclusive legislation over a district of 10 square miles, but did not specify where the federal district would be.   The issue came up again in 1790 while the Secretary of Treasury Hamilton was pushing for Congress to pass a financial plan.  Part of this plan included the Federal government assuming sates' debts incurred during the war.   James Madison of Virginia led a group of legislators from Southern states to block the plan from gaining approval.  Madison and Hamilton were at a stand still. Thomas Jefferson stepped in and brokered a compromise between Hamilton and Madison.   The federal government would assume debts, and the South would get the capital.   Both the Assumption Act and the Residence Act were passed as part of the compromise.  The Residence Act gave President George Washington the authority to pick the exact location for the capital, so long as it was located along the Potomac River between the Eastern Branch and the Connogocheque.   Washington wanted to get the ball rolling quickly.  In his third annual address, he announced this new authority and his plans to get it done.

"Pursuant to the authority contained in the several acts on that subject, a district of 10 miles square for the permanent seat of the Government of the United State has been fixed and announced by proclamation, which district will comprehend lands on both sides of the river Potomac and the towns of Alexandria and Georgetown. A city has also been laid out agreeably to a plan which will be placed before Congress, and as there is a prospect, favored by the rate of sales which have already taken place, of ample funds for carrying on the necessary public buildings, there is every expectation of their due progress."

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29433
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residence_Act

The cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol building was laid on September 18, 1793, and in 1800 the Congress, Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, and the courts of the District of Columbia took residency. 
http://www.stateoftheunionhistory.com/2015/07/1800-john-adams-new-us-capitol-bulding.html

For more information on the construction of the capitol, see http://www.aoc.gov/history-us-capitol-building,