"The South Carolina legislature had, over the previous decades, granted them permission by statute to occupy, maintain, and build upon the Charleston forts so long as they were kept in working condition and used for coastal defenses against foreign enemies."
You just made it up.
Walt
Yes it does, Walt. What did I say in 623? That the SC legislature had in the previous decades granted the forts to the US government conditionally. I also said that those conditions were to keep the forts in working order, upgrade them, and man them in defense of the city.
And what did the 1805 law require as those conditions? Exactly what I said: To "repair the fortifications now existing thereon or build such other forts or fortifications as may be deemed most expedient by the Executive of the United States on the same, and keep a garrison or garrisons therein"