"I don't get no respect..."

"Washington is a city of Southern efficiency and Northern charm."

John F. Kennedy, 35th President, 1961-1963

So how did Washington D.C. become the nation's capital?

Philadelphia had been the city where the Continental Congress had met and where the Declaration of Independence had been signed. So why not name "The City of Brotherly Love" as the capital?
New York would also have been a logical choice-to the Northerners.
Southerners feared that doing so would give too much power to the North and already talk of secession began.
To complicate matters, Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, suggested that the Federal government assume all of the states' loans which were taken in fighting the Revolution.
Enter Thomas Jefferson. He invited Hamilton and James Madison to dinner at Jefferson's Virginia home at Monticello to discuss the matter. Hamilton suggested that the capital remain in Philadelphia for ten years and then be moved permanently to a more southerly spot on the Potomac River, shared by Virginia and Maryland. In exchange, Hamilton persuaded Jefferson and Madison to change their delegations' vote to allow the Federal government assume the states' debts from the Revolution.
Legislation was passed and President Washington was given the power to define the boundaries of the city. He commissioned French architect and engineer, Pierre Charles L'Enfant, to survey and design the city.
In 1800 John and Abigail Adams became the first residents of what has come to be called "The White House."