District of Columbia retrocession is the act of returning some or all of the land that had been ceded to the federal government of the United States for the purpose of creating its federal district for the new national capital, which was moved from Philadelphia to what was then called the City of Washington in 1800. The land was originally ceded to the federal government by Virginia and Maryland in 1790. After moving through various stages of federal and state approval, the Virginia portion was returned in March 1847.
The District of Columbia's creation was the result of the District clause of the United States Constitution, but it has remained controversial and is opposed by some residents and those outside the District ever since. In the 1790 Residence Act[1] the District originally consisted of 100 square miles (259 km2; 25,900 ha) of land, which was ceded to it by Maryland and Virginia, and it straddled the Potomac River. The 1801 Organic Act placed the areas under the control of the United States Congress and removed the right of residents to vote in federal elections. The portion west of the Potomac River, ceded by Virginia, included two parts comprising 31 square miles (80 km2; 8,029 ha): the city of Alexandria, at the extreme southern shore, and the rural and short-lived Alexandria County, D.C.
After decades of debate about the disenfranchisement that came with district citizenship, and tensions related to perceived negligence by the U.S. Congress, this portion of the district was returned to Virginia in 1847.[2] The remaining district assumed its current boundaries and area of 68.34 square miles (177.00 km2; 17,699.98 ha) east of the Potomac.[3]
Subsequent proposals to return all or part of the remaining portion of the District of Columbia to Maryland have been cited as one way to provide full voting representation in Congress and return local control of the district to its residents.[4] D.C. statehood advocates [who?] have noted that ceding Washington, D.C. to Maryland may not have the support of the government in Maryland.[5]
- ^ "Primary Documents in American History". Web Guides. Library of Congress. January 27, 2015. Archived from the original on September 5, 2011. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
- ^ "Washington, D.C. History F.A.Q." Historical Society of Washington, D.C. Archived from the original on September 10, 2017. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
- ^ "Frequently Asked Questions About Washington, D.C". Historical Society of Washington, D.C. Archived from the original on September 18, 2010. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
- ^ Richards, Mark David (Spring–Summer 2004). "The Debates over the Retrocession of the District of Columbia, 1801–2004" (PDF). Washington History. Historical Society of Washington, D.C.: 54–82. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 19, 2015. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
- ^ "How About Retroceding Washington, D.C. to Maryland? | Cato at Liberty Blog".