Three things:
1: While the original intent was to have the District as being an unrepresented non-state...they also didn't intend for over half a million people to have permanent residence there. If they wanted to disenfranchise a population equal to Delaware, Rhode Island, Georiga, New Hampshire, and New Jersey right after they fought a war to get it...you'd think they'd flat out mention that they were all fucking hypocrites instead of just implying as much.
2. DC doesn't want to be part of Maryland nor does Maryland want DC. Aside from the fact that this sort of goes against the original intent of Article 4, Section 3 of the Constitution, it also goes against the will of the people.
3. All the people who have a hard on for the founders and know what they were thinking should probably read what they wrote. In the Consitution it says that Congress shall "exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District" and the only definition of such District is "not exceeding ten Miles square".
In practice, statehood has been awarded to other jurisdictions of the Federal Government 32 times: 50 states minus 13 original colonies, Maine (part of Massachusetts), and Vermont, California, and Texas which were independent nations before admission and West Virginia which was formed from Virginia sort of ignoring that pesky Constitution. The only qualification of these other territories was a republican form of government guaranteed by a state constitution and a petition before Congress. Congress would then approve and the President would sign the enabling act making said jurisdiction a state.
In the recent past, the primary opponents to statehood of the Alaska and Hawaii territories have been...guess who? Southern members of Congress who are scared that their power would be diminished by scary outsiders who don't think like them!
The most recent DC statehood act failed in the house because Republicans attached NRA sponsored legislation because they knew it wouldn't pass because the Republicans were afraid that the scary outsiders who didn't think like them would diminish their power.
1: While the original intent was to have the District as being an unrepresented non-state...they also didn't intend for over half a million people to have permanent residence there. If they wanted to disenfranchise a population equal to Delaware, Rhode Island, Georiga, New Hampshire, and New Jersey right after they fought a war to get it...you'd think they'd flat out mention that they were all fucking hypocrites instead of just implying as much.
2. DC doesn't want to be part of Maryland nor does Maryland want DC. Aside from the fact that this sort of goes against the original intent of Article 4, Section 3 of the Constitution, it also goes against the will of the people.
3. All the people who have a hard on for the founders and know what they were thinking should probably read what they wrote. In the Consitution it says that Congress shall "exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District" and the only definition of such District is "not exceeding ten Miles square".
In practice, statehood has been awarded to other jurisdictions of the Federal Government 32 times: 50 states minus 13 original colonies, Maine (part of Massachusetts), and Vermont, California, and Texas which were independent nations before admission and West Virginia which was formed from Virginia sort of ignoring that pesky Constitution. The only qualification of these other territories was a republican form of government guaranteed by a state constitution and a petition before Congress. Congress would then approve and the President would sign the enabling act making said jurisdiction a state.
In the recent past, the primary opponents to statehood of the Alaska and Hawaii territories have been...guess who? Southern members of Congress who are scared that their power would be diminished by scary outsiders who don't think like them!
The most recent DC statehood act failed in the house because Republicans attached NRA sponsored legislation because they knew it wouldn't pass because the Republicans were afraid that the scary outsiders who didn't think like them would diminish their power.
