Residence Act of 1790

An ACT for establishing the Temporary and Permanent Seat of the Government of the United States  (1790)

The Residence Act of 1790, officially An ACT for establishing the Temporary and Permanent Seat of the Government of the United States, was passed in the summer of 1790, designating the location of the U.S. capital along the Potomac River. The bill, as a compromise, also contained provisions that the Federal government would assume debts that the states incurred during the American Revolutionary War. Source: An ACT for establishing the Temporary and Permanent Seat of the Government of the United States - Library of Congress; Printed by Francis Childs and John Swaine. See also: United States Statutes at Large/Volume 1/1st Congress/2nd Session/Chapter 28.

An ACT for establishing the Temporary and Permanent Seat of the Government of the United States. BE it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That a district of territory, not exceeding ten miles square, to be located as hereafter directed on the river Potomack, at some place between the mouths of the Eastern-Branch and Connogochegue be, and the same is hereby accepted for the permanent seat of the government of the United States: Provided nevertheless, That the operation of the laws of the state within such district shall not be affected by this acceptance, until the time fixed for the removal of the government thereto, and until Congress shall otherwise by law provide. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States be authorized to appoint, and by supplying vacancies happening from refusals to act, or other causes, to keep in appointment, as long as may be necessary, three commissioners, who, or any two of whom, shall under the direction of the President, survey, and by proper metes and bounds, define and limit a district of territory, under the limitations above-mentioned; and the district so defined, limited and located, shall be deemed the district accepted by this act, for the permanent seat of the government of the United States. And be it enacted, That the said commissioners, or any two of them shall have power to purchase or accept such quantity of land on the eastern side of the said river within the said district, as the President shall deem proper for the use of the United States, and according to such plans as the President shall approve, the said commissioners, or any two of them shall, prior to the first Monday in December, in the year one thousand eight hundred, provide suitable buildings for the accommodation of Congress, and of the President, and for the public offices of the government of the United States. And be it enacted, That for defraying the expence of such purchases and buildings, the President of the United States be authorized and requested to accept grants of money. And be it enacted, That prior to the first Monday in December next, all offices attached to the seat of the government of the United States, shall be removed to, and until the said first Monday in December, in the year one thousand eight hundred, shall remain at the city of Philadelphia, in the state of Pennsylvania; at which place the session of Congress next ensuing the present, shall be held. And be it enacted, That on the said first Monday in December, in the year one thousand eight hundred, the seat of the government of the United States, shall, by virtue of this act, be transferred to the district and place aforesaid: And all offices attached to the said seat of government, shall accordingly be removed thereto by their respective holders, and shall, after the said day, cease to be exercised elsewhere; and that the necessary expence of such removal shall be defrayed out of the duties on imposts and tonnage, of which a sufficient sum is hereby appropriated. FREDERICK AUGUSTUS MUHLENBERG, Speaker of the House of Representatives. JOHN ADAMS, Vice-President of the United States, and President of the Senate. Approved, July the sixteenth, 1790. GEORGE WASHINGTON, President of the United States.

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work of the United States federal government (see 17 U.S.C. 105).