District of Columbia retrocession

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District of Columbia retrocession is the process of returning the land that was given to the federal government for the purpose of creating the national capital. The federal district was formed in 1791 from 100 square miles (260 km2) of land ceded by the states of Maryland and Virginia in accordance with the Residence Act. An area of 31 square miles (80 km2) that was originally ceded by Virginia was returned to that state in 1847. The District's current area consists only of the remaining 69 square miles (179 km2) of territory originally ceded by Maryland.[1] Returning the remaining portion of the District of Columbia is cited as a way to provide full voting representation in Congress and return local control of the city to its residents.[2]

Contents

[edit] Background

The Organic Act of 1801 officially organized the District of Columbia and placed the entire federal territory under the exclusive control of Congress. The territory within the District was organized into two counties: the County of Washington on the east side of the Potomac River, and the County of Alexandria on the west side.[3][4] Following this Act, citizens located in the District were no longer considered residents of Maryland or Virginia, thus ending their representation in Congress.[5]

Almost immediately following the Organic Act of 1801, the Congress took up various proposals for the return of the area to the states, all of which failed. Members of Congress proposed retrocession because they found disenfranchisement of the District's residents to be unacceptable. In contrast, other Congressmen were of the opinion that the District could not be immediately returned without the consent of the residents and the legislatures of Maryland and Virginia. Some representatives rejected the idea of retrocession entirely and determined that the Congress lacked the constitutional authority to return the territory.[2]

[edit] Virginia retrocession

In the 1830s, efforts grew to reunite the southern portion of the District with Virginia. Besides the fact that District residents had lost representation in Congress, a number of additional factors aided the movement to return the area to Virginia:

  • Alexandria had gone into economic decline due to neglect of the area by Congress. Alexandria needed infrastructure improvements in order to compete with other ports in the area such as Georgetown, which was further inland and on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.[1] Members of Congress from other areas of Virginia used their power to prohibit funding for projects, such as the Alexandria Canal, which would have increased competition with their home districts. Returning Alexandria to Virginia allowed residents to seek financing for projects without interference from Congress.[2]
  • A 1791 amendment to the Residence Act specifically prohibited the "erection of the public buildings otherwise than on the Maryland side of the river Potomac."[6] The institutions of the federal government, including the White House and the United States Capitol were therefore located in Washington on the east side of the Potomac River. This made Alexandria less important to the functioning of the national government.[2]
  • At the time, Alexandria was a major market in the American slave trade, but rumors circulated that abolitionists in Congress were attempting to end slavery in the nation's capital, which would have also seriously harmed the area's economy.[1][7]
  • There was also an active abolitionist movement in Virginia. If Alexandria were returned to the state of Virginia, the move would have added two additional pro-slavery representatives to the Virginia General Assembly.[1]

From 1840 to 1846, Alexandrians petitioned Congress and the Virginia legislature to approve retrocession. On February 3, 1846 the Virginia General Assembly agreed to accept the retrocession of Alexandria if Congress approved. Following additional lobbying by Alexandrians, Congress passed legislation on July 9, 1846 to return all the District's territory south of the Potomac River back to the Commonwealth of Virginia, pursuant to a referendum; President Polk signed the legislation the next day. A referendum on retrocession was held on September 1–2, 1846. The residents of the City of Alexandria voted in favor of the retrocession, 734 to 116; however, the residents of Alexandria County voted against retrocession 106 to 29. Despite the objections of those living in Alexandria County, President Polk certified the referendum and issued a proclamation of transfer on September 7, 1846. However, the Virginia legislature did not immediately accept the retrocession offer. Virginia legislators were concerned that the people of Alexandria County had not been properly included in the retrocession proceedings. After months of debate, the Virginia General Assembly voted to formally accept the retrocession legislation on March 13, 1847.[2] Confirming the fears of pro-slavery Alexandrians, the Compromise of 1850 outlawed the slave trade in the District, though not slavery itself.[8]

[edit] Constitutionality

The Supreme Court of the United States has never issued a firm opinion on whether the retrocession of the Virginia portion of the District of Columbia was constitutional. In the 1875 case of Phillips v. Payne the Supreme Court held that Virginia had de facto jurisdiction over the area returned by Congress in 1847, and dismissed the tax case brought by the plaintiff. The court, however, did not rule on the core constitutional matter of the retrocession. Writing the majority opinion, Justice Noah Swayne stated only that:

The plaintiff in error is estopped from raising the point which he seeks to have decided. He cannot, under the circumstances, vicariously raise a question, nor force upon the parties to the compact an issue which neither of them desires to make.[9]

[edit] Proposed Maryland retrocession

In order to grant the residents of the District of Columbia voting representation and control over their local affairs, Congress has been proposed returning the remainder of the city back to Maryland. If both the Congress and the Maryland state legislature agreed, jurisdiction over the District of Columbia could be returned to Maryland, possibly excluding a small tract of land immediately surrounding the United States Capitol, the White House and the Supreme Court building.[10]

The main problem with any of the proposals is that the state of Maryland does not currently want to take the District back.[11] Further, retrocession may require a constitutional amendment as the District's role as the seat of government is mandated by the District Clause and the Twenty-third Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.[11] The Twenty-third Amendment, ratified in 1961, grants District residents the right to vote for President. Conservative scholars argue that the Twenty-third Amendment refers specifically to "the District", a unique constitutional entity that is meant to have a resident population. Those scholars therefore conclude that the District cannot simply be returned to Maryland without an amendment ratified by the states.[12] Retrocession could also alter the idea of a separate national capital as envisioned by the Founding Fathers.[13]

A related proposal to retrocession is the "District of Columbia Voting Rights Restoration Act of 2004" (H.R. 3709), which would have treated the residents of the District as residents of Maryland for the purposes of Congressional representation. Maryland's congressional delegation would then be apportioned accordingly to include the population of the District.[14] Those in favor of such a plan argue that the Congress already has the necessary authority to pass such legislation without the constitutional concerns of other proposed remedies. From the foundation of the District in 1790 until the passage of the Organic Act of 1801, citizens living in D.C. continued to vote for members of Congress in Maryland or Virginia; legal scholars therefore propose that the Congress has the power to restore those voting rights while maintaining the integrity of the federal district.[15] The proposed legislation, however, never made it out of committee.[14]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d "Frequently Asked Questions About Washington, D.C". Historical Society of Washington, D.C.. http://www.historydc.org/gettoknow/faq.asp. Retrieved on 2008-12-07. 
  2. ^ a b c d e Richards, Mark David (Spring/Summer 2004). "The Debates over the Retrocession of the District of Columbia, 1801–2004". Washington History (Historical Society of Washington, D.C.): 54-82. http://www.dcvote.org/pdfs/mdrretro062004.pdf. Retrieved on 2009-01-16. 
  3. ^ Crew, Harvey W.; William Bensing Webb, John Wooldridge (1892). Centennial History of the City of Washington, D. C.. Dayton, Ohio: United Brethren Publishing House. p. 103. http://books.google.com/books?id=5Q81AAAAIAAJ. 
  4. ^ "Statutes at Large, 6th Congress, 2nd Session". A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774 - 1875. Library of Congress. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=002/llsl002.db&recNum=140. Retrieved on 2008-07-10. 
  5. ^ "Statement on the subject of The District of Columbia Fair and Equal Voting Rights Act" (PDF). American Bar Association. 2006-09-14. http://www.abanet.org/poladv/letters/electionlaw/060914testimony_dcvoting.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-07-10. 
  6. ^ A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774 - 1875. Library of Congress. pp. 214-5. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=001/llsl001.db&recNum=337. 
  7. ^ Greeley, Horace (1864). The American Conflict: A History of the Great Rebellion in the United States. Chicago: G. & C.W. Sherwood. pp. 142–144. http://books.google.com/books?id=ZlIMAAAAYAAJ. 
  8. ^ "Compromise of 1850". Library of Congress. 2007-09-21. http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Compromise1850.html. Retrieved on 2008-07-24. 
  9. ^ "Phillips v. Payne, 92 U.S. 130". FindLaw. 1875. http://laws.findlaw.com/us/92/130.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-28. 
  10. ^ "District of Columbia-Maryland Reunion Act (110th Congress, H.R. 1858)". GovTrack. 2007. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-1858. Retrieved on 2008-12-29. 
  11. ^ a b "Q&A with Rep. Tom Davis". The Washington Post. 1998-03-03. http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/zforum/levey/bob0303b.htm. Retrieved on 2008-12-29. 
  12. ^ Pate, Hewitt R. (1993-08-27). "D.C. Statehood: Not Without a Constitutional Amendment". The Heritage Foundation. http://www.heritage.org/research/politicalphilosophy/hl461.cfm. Retrieved on 2008-12-29. 
  13. ^ Madison, James (1996-04-30). "The Federalist No. 43". The Independent Journal. Library of Congress. http://thomas.loc.gov/home/fedpapers/fed_43.html. Retrieved on 2008-05-31. 
  14. ^ a b "District of Columbia Voting Rights Restoration Act of 2004 (108th Congress, H.R. 3709)". GovTrack. 2004. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h108-3709. Retrieved on 2008-12-29. 
  15. ^ Rohrabacher, Dana (2004-06-23). "Testimony before the Committee on Government Reform". DC Vote. http://www.dcvote.org/pdfs/drohrabacher062304.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-12-27. 

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