ABSTRACT
Jefferson was the first president to begin his term in the new national capital of Washington, DC. Although the agreement to have a national capital on the Potomac had been made in the early 1790s, Congress had not voted the money to make it possible. President Washington had chosen a location near to Alexandria, Virginia, and appointed commissioners to oversee the preparation of the site and buildings, but at first they had to depend on money provided by Virginia and Maryland. As Secretary of State, Jefferson made suggestions and showed a keen interest in the shaping of plans for the new capital. The ambitious formal lay-out was designed by French Major Pierre Charles L'Enfant. For a time his plans seemed well beyond the capacity of the resources available, but more financial assistance came from the purchase of lots by speculators, particularly the group of Robert Morris, James Greenleaf, and John Nicholson, who invested heavily in the project. Ultimately, they went bankrupt. 1
