A Capital City

A Site is Chosen The new capital was called the Federal City It would be on its own piece of land called the District of Columbia Not in any one state It was in the middle of the country How does that make sense??

Federal City Planned by Pierre Charles L’Enfant Wide grassy area in the center Rectangular city blocks Broad diagonal avenues cutting through the rectangles Why is this a good plan?

Buildings of the Capital Held contests to decide the design of the Capitol building and the President’s House James Hoban won the contest to design the White House William Thornton designed the Capitol

Counting Noses

Census First census was taken in 1790 Counted almost 4 million people 697,681 slaves Indians were not counted Why is it important to count the people? Look at the map on p. 34 What state had the highest population? What states had fewer than 100,000 people living in them?

Census Taken every 10 years since 1790 Population doubled about every 24 years at the beginning Today there are almost 311 million people in the United States

Life in the Early Nation Most people (95%) lived on farms 3% lived in the 6 biggest cities Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Charleston, Baltimore, Salem Why were these the biggest cities? Think about what they have in common

Not just the Colonies Anymore The United States stretched to the Mississippi River Frontier was between the Appalachians and the Mississippi When people said they were going west, they usually meant they were going to Ohio