Washington, D.C. was not a natural city. It was designed on purpose. In 1790, the country's leaders needed a capital that was not part of any state. Northern states and Southern states both wanted the capital close to them. The compromise was to build a brand-new city right in the middle. On the border between Maryland and Virginia, along the Potomac River. President George Washington chose the exact spot. French architect Pierre Charles L'Enfant drew the plan. He designed wide streets in a grid pattern with diagonal avenues cutting through them. The Capitol building, where Congress meets, was placed on a hill. The White House was placed about a mile away. But the land was not ideal. Much of it was swampy and flooded during heavy rains. Mosquitoes thrived in the wet conditions. Early visitors complained about the heat, the mud, and the insects. Still, the city grew. On April 16, 1862, President Lincoln signed a law freeing enslaved people in Washington, D.C. This came nine months before his Emancipation Proclamation freed people in the South. Today, Washington, D.C. is home to about 700,000 people. It still operates under a special set of rules because it is not a state.