Location, Location, Location: Settling on a Capital City

Today’s post comes from Judith Adkins, an archivist at the Center for Legislative Archives at the National Archives in Washington, DC. Senate Resolution that Congress shall meet in Philadelphia, May 24, 1790. (Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives) While the First Congress met for its two sessions in New York City, delegates from Pennsylvania … Continue reading Location, Location, Location: Settling on a Capital City

The burning of Washington

August 24, 2014, marks the 200th anniversary of the British burning of Washington during the War of 1812. In August 1814, British forces occupying the Chesapeake Bay began to sail up the Patuxent River in Maryland. Fearing an attack on the capital, Secretary of State James Monroe offered to scout the British position and report … Continue reading The burning of Washington