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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.

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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. Which river is the capital beside?
  2. 2. Why might L'Enfant have put the Capitol on a hill?
  3. 3. Why was L'Enfant dismissed in 1792?
  4. 4. Where did L'Enfant place the Capitol?
2.Why did the United States build a new capital city in the 1790s?
  • A.To build a whaling port
  • B.To make a new state
  • C.To have one permanent home for the national government
3.What is the National Mall today?
  • A.A farm for growing wheat
  • B.A long park lined with museums and monuments
  • C.An indoor shopping center
4.In what year did Congress first meet in the new city of Washington?
  • A.1776
  • B.1800
  • C.1865
5.Who lived on the land where Washington, D.C. now stands, long before the city?
  • A.French soldiers
  • B.American Indian peoples, such as the Nacotchtank
  • C.Settlers from Spain
6.Which building did L'Enfant plan for the top of a hill?
  • A.A train station
  • B.A sports stadium
  • C.The Capitol, where Congress meets

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.5.3-5 · Set 8 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Building the Nation's Capital

Set 8. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. The Potomac River. 2. So the building where Congress meets could be seen from far across the city. 3. He argued with the leaders in charge of the city. 4. On a hill.
  2. 2.To have one permanent home for the national government
  3. 3.A long park lined with museums and monuments
  4. 4.1800
  5. 5.American Indian peoples, such as the Nacotchtank
  6. 6.The Capitol, where Congress meets

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