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0 BCE-400CE- Washington DC -
The centre of the world
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| Washington DC ("District of Columbia") is located at the head of navigation of the Potomac River, which separates it from Virginia to the southwest of the United States of America | ||
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| The District of Columbia, founded on July 16, 1790, is a federal district as specified by the United States Constitution. The land forming the original District came from the states of Virginia and Maryland. However, the area south of the Potomac River (39 square miles or about 100 km²) was returned, or "retroceded", to Virginia in 1847 and now is incorporated into Arlington County and the City of Alexandria. After 1847, the remaining land that formed the area now known as the District of Columbia was formed exclusively from land that once belonged to Maryland. |
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| The cornerstone of the White House, the first newly constructed building of the new capital, was laid on October 13, 1792. That was the day after the first solemn celebrations of Columbus Day, marking its 300th anniversary. |
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| On August 24, 1814, British forces burned the capital during the most notable raid of the War of 1812 in retaliation for the sacking and burning of York (modern-day Toronto) during the winter months, which had left many Canadians homeless. President James Madison and U.S. forces fled before the British forces arrived and burned public buildings, including the Capitol and the Treasury building. The White House was burned and gutted. The Navy Yard was also burned—by American sailors. |
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| During the 1830s the District was home to one of the largest slave trading operations in the countr. Washington remained a small city—the 1860 Census put the population at just over 75,000 persons—until the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. The significant expansion of the federal government to administer the war and its legacies such as veterans' pensions led to notable growth in the city's population. By 1870, the District population had grown to nearly 132,000. |
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| In terms of regional and government models, Washington is unique in that during certain federal administrations the city and nation behaves as a secular constitutional democracy, while during other times, the city and nation is effectively run as a constitutional dictatorship similar to the model of ancient Rome. | ||
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Copyright © 2009 UCADIA. All rights reserved. |
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