Washington: The Making of the American Capital

Bordewich’s narrative about the “making” of Washington DC is quite an engaging read. Evidencing a strong critical demeanor – occasionally bordering on angst – the author covers the agendas and foibles of such figures as L’Enfant, the commissioners, the speculators, and the Founding Fathers as the Potomac deal developed. Also significant is the laudable focus on the central role of African Americans – free and enslaved – in the building of the city. There’s such an emphasis, in fact, that I’m surprised this doesn’t at least inform the book's subtitle. The inclusion of a Benjamin Banneker portrait – Mt Rushmore-like – alongside three of the white dudes that show up on our currency is the only tell-tale sign of show more Bordewich’s serious presentation of the issues around slavery, Philadelphia’s abolitionist milieu, and the impossibility of DC’s realization without such forced labor.

To balance his focus on this oft-ignored contribution (which, unfortunately must cope with an obvious dearth of archival documentation), Bordewich openly portrays the bumbling incompetence, graft, and/or self-interest that tended to undermine the supposed noble intentions granted to many of the original movers, shakers, and (literally) Big Wigs involved. It’s very entertaining - I could easily imagine our contemporary political elite repeating this near-fiasco today (if only they could figure out how to collect taxes from billionaires).

My only disappointment (as is typical, through not reading the book jacket description) is that – after recently reading a biography about L’Enfant – I had hoped that this book would cover a longer period of Washington’s development. I somehow thought that Bordewich would conclude with Marion Barry’s pipe or something. But alas, the timeline is exactly the same; tons of attention to the first 10 ill-fated years with a quick segue to Grant’s decision to finally fund this damn thing once and for all. Nonetheless, this is certainly a terrific story of our Capital’s origins. show less

Bordewich’s narrative about the “making” of Washington DC is quite an engaging read. Evidencing a strong critical demeanor – occasionally bordering on angst – the author covers the agendas and foibles of such figures as L’Enfant, the commissioners, the speculators, and the Founding Fathers as the Potomac deal developed. Also significant is the laudable focus on the central role of African Americans – free and enslaved – in the building of the city. There’s such an emphasis, in fact, that I’m surprised this doesn’t at least inform the book's subtitle. The inclusion of a Benjamin Banneker portrait – Mt Rushmore-like – alongside three of the white dudes that show up on our currency is the only tell-tale sign of show more Bordewich’s serious presentation of the issues around slavery, Philadelphia’s abolitionist milieu, and the impossibility of DC’s realization without such forced labor.

To balance his focus on this oft-ignored contribution (which, unfortunately must cope with an obvious dearth of archival documentation), Bordewich openly portrays the bumbling incompetence, graft, and/or self-interest that tended to undermine the supposed noble intentions granted to many of the original movers, shakers, and (literally) Big Wigs involved. It’s very entertaining - I could easily imagine our contemporary political elite repeating this near-fiasco today (if only they could figure out how to collect taxes from billionaires).

My only disappointment (as is typical, through not reading the book jacket description) is that – after recently reading a biography about L’Enfant – I had hoped that this book would cover a longer period of Washington’s development. I somehow thought that Bordewich would conclude with Marion Barry’s pipe or something. But alas, the timeline is exactly the same; tons of attention to the first ten ill-fated years with a quick segue to Grant’s decision to finally fund this damn thing once and for all. Nonetheless, this is certainly a terrific story of our Capital’s origins. show less

I had a particular interest in this book because I was born and raised in Washington. I expected some discussion of Pierre L'Enfant's design (and L'Enfant comes off very badly herein). To my surprise, This book lays bare the disgraceful fact that slavery was a huge reason behind the placement of the capital, and that information alone is worth the read. Apparently the famous statement that "all men are created equal" (from the Declaration of Independence) did not truly apply to all men, as George Orwell pointed out in Animal Farm ("All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others"). This is a very dense read, but I feel that it is worth the effort for every American who wants to learn more about their country's history.

Deals with the mess involved in deciding where to put the capital city and how to get it built in the ten years between 1790 and 1800. The slavery issue was a big factor in its placement on the Potomac instead of in or near Philadelphia, and land speculation almost ruined it anyway. Having read the book, I'm surprised it survived. Of course, the city as we know it really only started to come together in 1901, when the MacMillan Plan got back to some of L'Enfant's original ideas (now that the country was more suited to them in size/wealth). Pretty good narrative. I'm wondering why a similar book (Washington Burning, also about L'Enfant) came out on the same day.

If you've ever wondered how and why some very improbable and unwelcoming terrain on the Potomac came to be chosen in 1790 as the site for the nation's capital, this is the book for you.

I approached the reading of this book with a lot of enthusiasm. I was honestly interested in learning more about the capital and how it came to be. I can't say I was disappointed with the information I received. The book is full of interesting pieces of history that paint a sometimes bleak and pessimistic canvas of our nation's founders. I was disappointed to learn some things about some of our founders. I was surprised at other times. But I was never disappointed.

I was, however, slightly disappointed with the narrative itself. It wasn't bad but it also show more wasn't as engaging as some books I've read (1776 comes to mind). The information was there and the stories were there but I felt like I was working when I read about them. It wasn't an easy read.

Still, though, I do recommend this book to anyone with a real interest in the American Revolutionary period as this book contains a lot of little tidbits you aren't likely to find anywhere else. show less

In this book Fergus M. Bordewich chronicles the early history of the nation's capital of the U.S.A., highlighting the political struggles, sectional rivalry, backroom dealing, and big money that led to the 1790 establishment of Washington, D.C. The author discusses the people involved in the city's construction, including engineer Peter L'Enfant, African American surveyor Benjamin Banneker, and he does write about the slaves who did a majority of the heavy labor. If it was the author's intent to just write about the original choice of placement, the difficulties and corruption that took place to give the U.S.A. the capital they have now he did a good introduction and that is what I rated it on. As to the actual construction and show more completion of the nation's capital this book is just a look at the beginning with mention of how the completion came to be. It is a shame that the author's polemics could not have been left out of this writing. show less

Great Book Makes you think twice abut how our nations capitol was conceived and who is responsible for the greedy dream to be reality