Make DC Square Again. Retrocession Was Never Constitutional

The American Capital Project ^ | Unknown | Unknown

[Jacquerie]

In 1846, a third of the District of Columbia was stolen by Virginia to appease slaveholders. It is time to right that wrong and return to the borders laid down by George Washington himself.

The One-Way Ratchet

The Constitution gave Congress a one-way ratchet: the power to create a permanent seat of government by accepting cessions from states. Once that ratchet clicked forward in 1790, it was locked. The Constitution provides no mechanism to pull it back.

Article I, Section 8 grants Congress the power to "exercise exclusive Legislation" over a district "not exceeding ten Miles square" that becomes "the Seat of the Government of the United States."

Notice what the Constitution authorizes: Congress may accept cessions from states to form a District. It does not authorize Congress to return, retrocede, or give away territory once accepted. The grant of power is directional.

Constitutional scholar Hannis Taylor, in his 1910 opinion to the U.S. Senate, argued:

"After the power to select the seat of government had been once exercised by Congress... the power of Congress over the subject-matter was exhausted."

The Founding Fathers Chose Permanence

The Act of July 16, 1790 declared the District "the permanent seat of government of the United States." During debate, constitutional scholar Hannis Taylor reported:

"When Mr. Madison moved, in the House of Representatives, to strike out the word 'permanent' from this act, he was voted down." - Hannis Taylor (1910)

The First Congress, packed with Framers who had just written the Constitution, deliberately chose permanence. This was the inducement that convinced Virginia and Maryland to cede territory at all.

Legislative Intent Was Clear

The 1790 Congress's explicit choice of "permanent" is binding legislative history. Contemporary interpretation, practiced and acquiesced in for years, conclusively fixes constitutional construction.

The Supreme Court Chose Permanence

In 1830, the Supreme Court decided Van Ness v. City of Washington, addressing the permanence of the District's founding. Justice Joseph Story wrote:

[TBP]

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