Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17 chooses the location of what is today Washington, DC to become the new Federal Capital.
District residents cast votes for members of Congress in Maryland or Virginia and for President as part of the neighboring states
Organic Act of 1801 - Establishes DC as U.S. Capital Congress votes to take complete control over 10 square miles - See District Clause (U.S. Constitution, Article I, section 8, paragraph 17)
Residents' voting rights/rights to Congressional representation are lost
Territorial government and non-voting Delegate abolished
Congress initiates Direct Rule-a three-member commissioner government is appointed by the president/ approved by Congress (all white until 1960's)
Segregationist Rep. John McMillan favors DC Vote for President.
Compromise meant to satisfy DC desire for statehood/representation (DC limited to 3 electoral votes no matter what the population)
23rd Amendment passes Congress and state legislatures. Gives DC residents right to vote for President, but limits DC three votes in the Electoral College.
DC residents vote in their first Presidential Election. (Lyndon Baines Johnson)
DC suffers 243 casualties in the Vietnam War-more than 10 other states.
Federal Voting Rights Act is passed, strengthening the 14th and 15th amendments on voting rights. Over half a million African-Americans who live in DC, however, are still without voting representation in Congress.
As part of the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. James Forman, Executive Secretary of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, send Marion Barry to Washington, DC to campaign for home rule (Free DC Movement).
Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) support Home Rule for D.C.
First National Home Rule Day.
DC has Home Rule Float in LBJ's Presidential Inaugural Parade on Penn. Ave.
A Three Commissioner form of Government ends - LBJ appoints Walter Washington as Mayor and appoints the first Council.
DC joins widespread rioting in urban America after assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
DC residents elect a Board of Education. (School Board)
Statehood committee formed; first 'DC Statehood day' to educate and inform the public on statehood; first DC statehood bill is introduced into Congress. (Ronald Dellums-D; Fred Schwengel-R)
Congress gives DC right to elect non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives - Rev. Walter E. Fauntroy elected to this post.
Segregationist Rep. McMillan (D-SC) loses his seat and therefore his chairmanship of the District Committee. DC Del. Walter Fauntroy mobilizes DC residents and others to go to South Carolina to defeat him.
Under new Chairman of District Committee, Rep. Charles Diggs of Detroit, DC Home Rule Act-The DC Self-Government Reorganization Act-grants the city an elected mayor and a 13-member council. (President LBJ)
First Mayor (Walter Washington) and council are elected.
House calls for a floor vote on a proposed constitutional amendment to give DC voting representation in Congress. DC Del. Fauntroy main mobilizer. The amendment wins the majority of the vote (229:181) but is still not passed.
President Carter backs a DC Congressional vote but not statehood.
DC Voting Rights Constitutional Amendment approved in Congress-would give the District 2 senators and 1 Congressman if authorized-requires ratification from a majority of the states. (2/3rds of congress - 3/4ths of state legislatures)
DC residents vote for initiative to draft state constitution.
DC Statehood Commission and DC Compact Commission established to study path to DC statehood and plan to mobilize community and nation.
DC Statehood Constitutional Convention drafts a state constitution; Statehood constitution formally approved by DC Residents.
-State constitution ratified-"New Columbia"
-Shadow delegation created (1 Statehood Representative and 2 Statehood Senators to lobby for statehood)
-Authorization from Congress never granted.
Sen. Edward Kennedy introduces statehood bill. Senate takes no action.
DC Full Voting Rights Amendment fails after 13 slate legislatures reject it.
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) introduces statehood Bill - Senate takes no action.
The House DC Committee votes to approve the DC Home Rule Charter submitted by non-voting Del. Fauntroy (D-DC) which grants DC Statehood and full voting rights; however, the bill later dies in Congress.
DC residents elect DC Statehood Delegation (two Senators and one Representative whose responsibility is to lobby for DC statehood).
President George Walker Bush announces he opposes Statehood.
Senators Edward Kennedy and Paul Simon introduced a bill for statehood for DC.
Statehood Senator Jesse Jackson begins term as first Senior Shadow Senator for DC with Florence Pendleton as his Junior Senator and Charles Moreland, first Representative.
Non-voting Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) begins first term as DC Representative in the House
House DC Committee again votes on statehood but Bill never reaches House floor.
DC Statehood Bill H.R. 51, introduced by Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, defeated 277:153 in the House
Congress rules to terminate DC delegate from House of Representatives, removing any present voter privileges
Congress imposes non-elected DC Control Board over DC government
Stand Up! for Democracy in DC Coalition (www.FreeDC.org) is formed after the takeover of the D.C. government by Congress to educate and advocate for full democracy for D.C. residents.
DC Residents filed two lawsuits (Adams v. Daley - for self-determination filed by George LaRoche, Esq. and Alexander v. Daley - for voting rights, filed by Jamin Raskin, Esq.
Congress passes bill that prevents the city from spending money on the litigating the suits.
DC Vote is formed as a voting rights education and advocacy organization.
The two lawsuits are joined. A 3-judge panel rules against the lawsuits by a 2:1 vote stating that the Constitution excludes DC in voting rights-Supreme Court refuses to hear appeal by Adams v. Clinton plaintiffs.
DC adopts "Taxation Without Representation" motto for license plates.
U.S. Representative Tom Davis (R-VA) and non-voting Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) introduces DC One Vote Bill to grant DC voting representative in House (and extra for Utah)-No Taxation Without Representation Act of 2003 (S.617) (H.R. 1285)-nine cosponsors.
Never reaches vote
January 2005 nationwide poll found that 82 percent of Americans support full voting representation for the District, while 71 percent support full budgetary autonomy for the city. But more importantly, roughly 80 percent of Americans expressed some level of ignorance towards the District's second-class status, and were more likely to support voting rights when made aware of it.
Davis/Norton' single vote bill is reintroduced - Again fails to reach vote.
United Nation's Human Rights Committee finds DC's lack of voting representation in Congress to violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights-a treaty ratified by more than 160 countries, including the US.
Washington Post poll suggests 61 percent (788) DC Adults want statehood.
-Davis/Norton single vote Bill is again reintroduced into a now Democratic Congress
-House passes the bill
-Stalled in Congress
Congress removes restriction on DC right to spend its money on lobbying for statehood
Presidential Candidate Barack Obama (D-IL) gives his support for statehood.
-DC Council establishes Special Committee on DC Statehood and Self-Determination
51stState Commission Legislation is introduced into DC Council
Senate prepares to vote on a similar single vote bill proposed by Representatives Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) - handgun amendment is attached to bill. No action
The fight for equality for the residents of Washington DC started in the very early 1800's when the Organic Act of 1801 established the U.S. Capital to include the cities of Alexandria, Georgetown, and Washington. Having only just recently fought the Revolutionary War to attain their freedoms from the Crown along with the rest of the citizens of the United States, the residents of these cities found themselves stripped of their own home rule and full representation in Congress!
It didn't have to be that way. The bill could have, nay, should have only carved out the lands needed to house the legislative and executive branches and various other buildings, monuments and grounds. It didn't have to include ALL of the 100 miles square (102) allowed by the Constitution. It didn't HAVE TO disenfranchise and make aliens of the entire populace of the three urban centers. After all, the Article says the District MAY BE so large, not must be so.
Alexandrians and Arlingtonians are Virginians today because of that explicit language. They were "re-freed" in 1846, and the constitutionally flexible DC Line was redrawn to include only about 69 miles square, leaving only we sorry Washingtonians and Georgetowners to remain in political bondage. It doesn't have to and should not remain so.
Did You Know The Citizens of Washington DC, The "Capital of The Free World," Are Denied The Very Basic Rights of Democracy?
Out of 119 democracies around the world, the United States is the only country that denies its national capital citizens the right to full democracy.
Taxation without representation is an issue of fundamental fairness and equality.
DC Voting Under Statehood Congressional voting rights and statehood are not competing priorities, but rather complementary strategies to obtaining full democracy for District citizens. Statehood, by definition, encompasses all the rights of democracy including full voting rights in Congress.
The ultimate goal for the District of Columbia is to attain statehood. On the path to that goal, incremental steps may need to be taken. Those steps may include: securing voting representation in the US House of Representatives and the US Senate, and obtaining additional legislative and budget autonomy.
Achieving Statehood In March 2009, DC Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray introduced and the Council of the District of Columbia unanimously passed a Resolution establishing the Special Committee on Statehood and Self-Determination, chaired by Councilmember Michael A. Brown. The clear mandate for the Committee is to develop an effective, comprehensive strategy to win the argument for and ultimately achieve the goal of Statehood as soon as possible.