Kids ask: How did capital get D.C. name?

Rhonda Schuessler's sixth-grade class at West Oak Middle School in Mundelein asked: "How did the capital of the United States get the name District of Columbia?"

In the early days when legislators were hammering out the details of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, anywhere members of the Continental Congress met was considered the capital.

The Declaration of Independence was written in Philadelphia. New York City is where George Washington made his inaugural speech. Later, as Congress met in the Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia, they were mobbed by soldiers demanding back pay and took off for Princeton, N.J., to continue their work. After a few more moves to Maryland and then back to New Jersey, they returned to Philadelphia, which again became home to the Congress.

All these locations were northern cities, and tensions between northern and southern states were pitched like fights between siblings. Someone always felt the other had a better deal. In 1790, an act of the Constitution established that a neutral territory would be set aside for the nation's new capital.

A territory located between the north and south was identified along the Potomac River. Maryland and Virginia ceded land for the new government. A 10-square-mile plot with about 5,000 residents was renamed the District of Columbia.

By 1800, the Capitol building was under construction, the White House was ready for its first residents, John and Abigail Adams, and the legislators moved to D.C.

"Columbia" was a nickname used for the United States of America. It comes from Columbus, the European who declared the Americas for Spain in 1492. It was popular in the 1700s to make feminine versions of words, so "Columbus" became "Columbia." England has a similar name, Britannia, and "Marianne" was used by the French. The popularity of naming things "Columbia" was pervasive. After the Revolutionary War, King's College in New York City was renamed Columbia College, now the Ivy League Columbia University.

Established in 1802 and named for the first U.S. president, Washington was one of the cities within the District of Columbia. Georgetown and Alexandria were other cities within the District, although Alexandria was returned to Virginia in 1846. The district became one city, Washington, with a mayor who was originally appointed by the president. In the 1960s, residents of Washington, D.C., won the right to vote for the president. The district has no Congressional representative.

Check these outThe Fremont Public Library District in Mundelein suggests these titles on Washington, D.C.: bull;"Washington, D.C.," by Deborah Kent bull; "White House QA," by Denise Rinaldo bull; "Washington, D.C.," by Dan Elish bull; "Our U.S. Capitol," by Mary Firestone bull; "If These Walls Could Talk: Family Life at the White House," by Jane O'Connor