Washington: How Slaves, Idealists, and Scoundrels Created the Nation's Capital

by Fergus M. Bordewich

Book Overview

Washington, D.C., is home to the most influential power brokers in the world. But how did we come to call D.C.--a place once described as a mere swamp producing nothing except myriads of toads and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060842385
• ISBN13: 9780060842383
• Release Date: May 2008
• Publisher: Amistad Press
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Our First Great Land Grabbing Boondoggle

On March 4, 1797, the newly elected president, John Adams, was about to become acquainted with the Patowmack Navigation Company; its who's-who roster of the wealthiest landowners like George Washington, James Madison, Henry Lee, and their vital interest in the new national city on the Potomac. "Up until now, Adams had shown little interest in the new federal district." Washington and L'Enfant's dream city was far from complete -- a French tourist described the new President's House and the Capitol as, "gapping shells surrounded by a hodgepodge of stone blocks, clay pits, and muddy paths." The project commissioners "gave President Adams a crash course: they explained the failure of land sales and lotteries, lost loans, fast-talking speculators, squabbling landowners, and the vagaries of architects, contractors, and workmen" -- an eye-opening disclosure for the second president. Well-written and researched, Mr. Bordewich's book is a inspection of the building of our nation's capital -- in its most fascinating period. For those who find comfort in believing sober, thoughtful, wise and capable men were building the nation's capital: this book is not to be recommended. indeed, its look at behind-the-scenes land speculation and shoddy construction gave America's enemies in Europe considerable amusement. For most Americans, the mechanics of the land acquisition were concealed in secrecy. "Development of the capital had been carried on from its inception without congressional oversight, public accounting, or debate. Congressmen were just beginning to grasp that for half a decade huge sums of money had been disappearing into the muddy work site on the Potomac, with very little to show for it," explains the author. This book will alter that because Mr. Bordewich's monumental research and spirited writing brings new light to that period of our history. While Mr. Bordewich's book prances from episode to episode, yet it makes a lucid and thorough introduction to several deeply quarrelsome subjects. Reading it during our present credit and banking crisis, it was hard not to be struck by the parallels between past and present, and not to be depressed by the miserable prospects for quick turnaround. The author covers these momentous changes with great skill, ably mixing narrative and explaining much that was hidden or unapproachable in this fascinating period. This is an enlightening book, a rambling book, and at times a fun one. But it is also intensely rewarding. Mr. Bordewich, the author of Bound for Canaan: The Epic Story of the Underground Railroad, America's First Civil Rights Movement, has a broad vision, an easy wit and an engaging style. He rarely loses the reader's attention, and then only in the sections about secondary areas such as the scourge of slavery, the divisive presidential campaigns, and his long account of Philadelphia's yellow fever epidemic -- not for the squeamish, which I presume he felt bound to add in order to p

An Engaging History of the Nation's Capital

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book about the history of our nation's capital and why it came to be located where it is. Bordewich explains how the location of the capital was closely tied to the importance of slavery in the South. He describes the details of the negotiations in Congress and how ultimately, to the disappointment of Philadelphia and other contestants, a compromise tying the assumption of debts from the Revolution to the location of the capital placed it where it is today. But the location was tenuous from the beginning as George Washington's vision of a grand capital was fraught with all kinds of problems -including the involvement of land speculators - that would keep the capital from maturing for many years to come. Bordewich reveals the role that slave labor played in building the capital and the ironies that abounded becuase of that, particularly the personal struggle that some, like Washington himself, dealt with to reconcile their ownership of slaves with the egalitarian pronouncements of the new republic. The characters involved in this real life plot are engaging: Pierre L'Enfant, the architect originally commissioned to build the City; the land speculators and the founding fathers - Jefferson, Hamilton and Madison, as well as Washington himself, who is also revealed as having self-interest via land-holdings in the development of the City. In the end, however, his deity-like stature remains for posterity. What I always find striking in books of American history of this period, is the erudite manner in which people communicated, ways that apparently have been lost to more recent generations, and makes me wonder whether we simply think differently and therefore do not have ready access to the forms of expression that were the signature of our forefathers, but I suppose that is another book. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about the genesis of our nation's capital.

Scholarly Backstory

This well written, easily read account of the decade long saga that is the history of Washington, D.C.'s creation as our national capital brings a bit of scholarly background of the Founding era to a general readership. The political, personal, international, financial, religious, medical, national security, and geographical details that each came to play in the selection and completion of this project are clearly explained. Whether famous or infamous, the players are presented fairly, but without omission of their very human motives and behaviors. Slavery is presented just as it was in this new Republican land-of-the-free: protected by the Constitution and a powerful force when expressed in the Federal Ratio. The quoted sentiments of many contemporaries bring the text an enjoyable contemporaneous quality. There are many poignant anecdotes, including the sheriff's arrest of a sitting Supreme Court justice and co-father of the Constitution, James Wilson, for failure to pay his debts. Without doubt, the lack of maps is a major disappointment. I found myself digging out my old tourist guides each time reference was made to today's geography. There is a place on the bookshelves of everyone interested in American history for this informative volume.

Buy this book

This is simply a superb book. Extremely well told, rich with historical texture, with detail new even to those who "already know" this story, and especially fascinating to anyone who works in commercial real estate or finance, particularly those of us in DC. To the real estate player, this is a development case study that will astound, amaze, and amuse on almost every page. To the financier in any industry, it will remind you our business never really changes. Buy the book, you will find it hard to put down.

Nation's Capitol

Mr. Bordewich's latest book explains the complex process of the development of Washington D.C. The simplistic knowledge of the formation of the location of the capitol was based on a dinner party, however the truth is much more complicated. The history of this great metropolis was created amidst confusion, chicanery and speculation. It is fascinating to learn of the involvement of the main participants, those who detracted as well as those who pursued the completion of the city. Mr. Bordewich writes informative historical books and I look forward to the release of each of his books.