Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself, for emptiness will be his payment. – Job 15:31
The First United States Congress passed the Residence Act on this day in 1790, officially establishing the District of Columbia as the capital of the United States. Congress was unable to settle on a capital for 14 years, and many former soldiers remained unpaid for their work in the Revolutionary War, routinely driving Congress out of their meeting places with mobs. The Northern and Southern states were divided on how best to address this issue. The Northern states were deeply in debt, whereas the rich Southern states had already paid off most of their debt after the war. Alexander Hamilton helped broker a tenuous compromise, proposing that the capital be mostly in Virginia if the federal government took on the war debt of the states. Pray for members of the current Congress as they face the variety of needs across the nation.
As the Lord leads, pray with us…
- For senators and representatives as they propose and consider legislation that impacts all the states.
- For governing officials as they propose to make Washington, D.C., a state.
