Enclave Clause

I should warn you that things in this city aren’t often the way they seem. Where but in Washington would they call the department that’s in charge of everything outdoors… the Department of the Interior?
Ronald Reagan, Remarks at the dinner of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, September 14, 1983

“To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States,” Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17 A, US Constitution.

This clause is known as the Enclave Clause. The definition of enclave is “a distinct territorial, cultural, or social unit enclosed within or as if within foreign territory”.

Here are some facts about Washington, D.C.:
• Washington, D.C. is located along the Potomac River
• The site of the city was selected by George Washington
• Washington, D.C. is not a state – it is governed under exclusive legislation of Congress
• A resident of D.C. cannot vote for a US congressperson. They have a non-voting delegate in the House of Representatives and a shadow Senator
• The 23rd Amendment gave the residents of D.C. representation in the Electoral College. The residents can now vote for President of the US
• It is a federal district created specifically to be the seat of government
• It is the territory in which general government exercised full sovereignty, not beholden to any state, per Lee A. Carney, Partner, Baker and Hostetler, LLP, writing for Heritage Foundation
• Voting rights advocates would prefer to have D.C. become a state. This would require a constitutional amendment.

We the people give Congress the power to establish and govern our nation’s capital.

We the people have a national capital city that is not beholden to any one state. This concept gives the states equal power, not one state having more power than the others because it governs the national capital.

Here is a web page with good information about Washington, D.C.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/destination-hunter/north-america/united-states/east/washington-dc/washingtondc-history-heritage.html?c=y&page=1

Here is a video from History.com about the Nation’s Capital:
http://www.history.com/topics/washington-dc/videos#washington-dc

References:

Findlay, Bruce Allyn and Findlay, Esther Blair. Your Rugged Constitution. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1950

Hannaford, Peter. The Quotable Ronald Reagan. Washington, DC: Regnery Press, 1998

http://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/articles/1/essays/57/enclave-clause

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Washington,_D.C.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/destination-hunter/north-america/united-states/east/washington-dc/washingtondc-history-heritage.html?c=y&page=1

Online dictionary

US Constitution