The history of Washington, D.C. is tied to its role as the capital of the United
States. Originally inhabited by an Algonquian-speaking people known as the
Nacotchtank, the site of the District of Columbia along the Potomac River was
first selected by President George Washington. The city came under attack during
the War of 1812 in an episode known as the Burning of Washington. Upon the
government's return to the capital, it had to manage reconstruction of numerous
public buildings, including the White House and the United States Capitol. The
McMillan Plan of 1901 helped restore and beautify the downtown core area,
including establishing the National Mall, along with numerous monuments and
museums.
Unique among cities with a high percentage of African Americans, Washington has
had a significant black population since the city's creation. As a result,
Washington became both a center of African American culture and a center of
Civil Rights Movement. Since the city government was run by the U.S. federal
government, black and white school teachers were paid at an equal scale as
workers for the federal government. It was not until the administration of
Woodrow Wilson, a Southern Democrat who had numerous Southerners in his cabinet,
that federal offices and workplaces were segregated, starting in 1913.[1] This
situation persisted for decades: the city was racially segregated in certain
facilities until the 1950s.
Today, D.C. is marked by contrasts. Neighborhoods on the eastern periphery of
the central city, and east of the Anacostia River tend to be disproportionately
lower-income. Following World War II, many middle-income whites moved out of the
city's central and eastern sections to newer, affordable suburban housing, with
commuting eased by highway construction. The assassination of Martin Luther
King, Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968 sparked major riots in chiefly
African American neighborhoods east of Rock Creek Park. Large sections of the
central city remained blighted for decades. By contrast, areas west of the Park,
including virtually the entire portion of the District between the Georgetown
and Chevy Chase neighborhoods (the latter of which spills into neighboring Chevy
Chase, Maryland), contain some of the nation's most affluent and notable
neighborhoods. During the early 20th century, the U Street Corridor served as an
important center for African American culture in DC. The Washington Metro opened
in 1976. A rising economy and gentrification in the late 1990s and early 2000s
led to revitalization of many downtown neighborhoods.
Article One, Section 8, of the United States Constitution places the District
(which is not a state) under the exclusive legislation of Congress. Throughout
its history, Washington, D.C. residents have therefore lacked voting
representation in Congress. The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States
Constitution, ratified in 1961, gave the District representation in the
Electoral College. The 1973 District of Columbia Home Rule Act provided the
