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Building the Nation's Capital is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on how Washington, D.C. was planned and grew from fields into a capital, aligned to C3 Framework indicator D2.Geo.5.3-5. It prints 6 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 22 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Building the Nation's Capital

D2.Geo.5.3-5

NameDate

Read the information text and answer its questions, then circle the best answers.

1.Look at the source, then answer the questions.

L'Enfant's Plan for the Capital

An information text written for this worksheet. In 1790 Congress decided to build a new capital city beside the Potomac River. President George Washington chose the exact place and asked Pierre-Charles L'Enfant, a French-born engineer who had fought in the American Revolution, to design it. At the time the land was mostly farms, fields and woods. In 1791 L'Enfant drew a plan. He placed the Capitol, where Congress meets, on a hill, and the President's House about a mile and a half away, joined by a wide avenue. Streets ran north to south and east to west like a grid, and wide avenues crossed them on a slant, meeting at circles and squares. A long open park, now the National Mall, stretched west from the Capitol. Enslaved workers, as well as free workers, did much of the work of building the Capitol and the President's House. L'Enfant argued with the leaders in charge of the city and was dismissed in 1792, but the city was later built mostly on his plan.

  1. 1. Why was L'Enfant dismissed in 1792?
  2. 2. Why might L'Enfant have put the Capitol on a hill?
  3. 3. Who asked L'Enfant to design the capital?
  4. 4. How did L'Enfant's streets run?
2.Why did the United States build a new capital city in the 1790s?
  • A.To make a new state
  • B.To have one permanent home for the national government
  • C.To build a whaling port
3.Why is Washington, D.C. not part of any state?
  • A.No one lives there
  • B.It belongs to Canada
  • C.It was set up as a federal district for the national government
4.Why do people remember L'Enfant and Banneker today?
  • A.They wrote the Constitution
  • B.They were the first two Presidents
  • C.Their plan and survey shaped the nation's capital
5.What is the National Mall today?
  • A.A farm for growing wheat
  • B.An indoor shopping center
  • C.A long park lined with museums and monuments
6.Who is the city of Washington, D.C. named after?
  • A.George Washington, the first President
  • B.A river in Maryland
  • C.Washington State

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.5.3-5 · Set 22 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Building the Nation's Capital

Set 22. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. He argued with the leaders in charge of the city. 2. So the building where Congress meets could be seen from far across the city. 3. President George Washington. 4. North to south and east to west like a grid, with wide avenues crossing on a slant.
  2. 2.To have one permanent home for the national government
  3. 3.It was set up as a federal district for the national government
  4. 4.Their plan and survey shaped the nation's capital
  5. 5.A long park lined with museums and monuments
  6. 6.George Washington, the first President

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to D2.Geo.5.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.