The Creation of D.C. the 51st State
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LOOK BACK TO JUNE 1783 - REGAINING OUR RIGHTS!
It is seemingly minor incidents, history often reveals that propel the occurrence of major events. One such event was the creation of Washington, D.C. as the permanent seat of government. The incident that gave rise to this event took place on a certain day in June 1783.
Meeting in Philadelphia, the still seat-less Congress (which up to this time had met at various places as the exigencies of war demanded) was threatened by a band of mutinous soldiers, dissatisfied because Congress had failed to pay for their military services. Congress requested protection from the Pennsylvania militia but was refused, and for two days held in a state of siege. Outraged by the apparent inadequacies of the itinerant government, the desirability of a capital controlled exclusively by the federal government was underscored.
Four years later, in 1787, as a direct result of the incident, Congress resolved that:
“The Congress shall have power…to exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may by the session of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of government of the United States…” (Set forth in Article One of the Constitutional Convention, the Seventeenth paragraph of Section Eight).
No longer would Congress find itself beleaguered by pre-existing local, commercial and political interests. The issue of who should control the capital settled, there remained the provocative question of where to locate the permanent seat of government. Rivalry for the location was intense. Liberal offers of land came from many states. There were sectional jealousies --- the fear that one section of the country might gain economically or politically over another section and the slavery question had its influence as well. Interestingly, during the ensuing debates, often acrimonious, one member stated, “… the peace of the United States depends as much on this as on any other question which can come before the Congress.”
Finally, on July 16, 1790, by a vote of 32 to 29, an act was passed entitled, “An Act Establishing the Temporary and Permanent Seat of the Government of the United States.” The word “temporary” applied to Philadelphia whose disappointment in not becoming the nation’s capital was appeased by Congress holding sessions there for a ten-year period, until 1800. The following month the funding of the war debts bill proposed by Hamilton became law. At last, in 1791, George Washington was able to select the site upon which the capital would be built.
