7. Dickens was little impressed with the nation’s capital on his visit
The Washington which was seen by Dickens little resembled the city he visited a second time in 1867. In 1842, the Great Dome of the Capitol building was not there. The city was one of the great distances between its buildings and its parks. Wide avenues had little built alongside them. The hotel in which he stayed consisted of seven small houses, each accommodating a guest or guests, rather than a single building with a lobby and common rooms such as a saloon or restaurant. Dickens visited the Capitol every day either house was in session, and the White House twice. On the first visit, he was introduced to President John Tyler. He recorded the president looked, “worn and anxious, and well he might; being at war with everybody”.
Everywhere Dickens looked in Washington; in the houses of congress, in lobbies and banks, in the White House, in saloons and restaurants, he saw spittoons. He commented on the fact that while every male expectorated with frequency, few had learned to hit them. His disgust with the American habit of chewing tobacco and spitting, which increased with his journey to the south and later to the west, was unbridled. The use of tobacco was one reason he altered his plans while in Washington. He had originally planned to travel to South Carolina. In Washington, he decided to go no further south than Richmond, Virginia, after which his party would venture to the west.