COLUMBIA
July 4, 1776 - U.S. Independence signed
July 7, 1776 - State Independence signed
Aug 8, 1776 - State Constitution signed
Sep 17, 1787 - U.S. Constitution signed
Apr 28, 1788 - Ratification by Columbia reps
Dec 15, 1791 - 10th Amdt. Limits Congress
Dec 19, 1791 - Maryland Act of cession
Feb 27, 1801 - Congress' First Organic Act:
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Columbia partitioned from Maryland
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State Constitution Preserved
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District becomes seat of US Govt.
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Nov 3, 2020 - First State Elections
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We, the people of Columbia,
are a State of the Union
Our State Constitution, assented to by Congress Feb 27, 1801:
"I. THAT the Legislature consist of two distinct branches.."
"XXVII. That the Delegates to Congress, from this State..."
The people of Columbia have never yielded their constitutional art I. § 2 right to representation in Congress through a state.
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State jurisdiction in Columbia was not terminated by the cession.
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Congress is not a State. Congress has not and cannot by law annul rights reserved only to States or the people.
It is unconstitutional to deny the people of Columbia that right to representation.
OUR STATE
1. FORMATION
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What is now Columbia was part of Maryland, one of the founding States of the United States. In 1776 We the People signed two ​Declarations of Independence from Great Britain, one with the other founding colonies and one by Maryland alone.
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Also in 1776, by Convention, the People created the law in Maryland through a State Bill of Rights and Constitution.
2. THE UNION
Columbia, as part of Maryland, joined the Union by countersigning the United States Constitution on April 28, 1788. All the councillors of Maryland signed, including representatives from Georgetown, (Col. Wm Deakins Jr.) and Rock Creek Parish (Thomas Cramphin Jr.) and from other parts of what is now Columbia.
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This document is the indissoluble 'contract' under which "The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states." U.S. Const. Art. IV, Sec. 2, Clause 1. Nobody has the right to strip reserved states rights from Columbia or its citizens.
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The original of this document is in the Maryland State Archives.
3. CESSION FROM MARYLAND
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It is a misconception that Columbia ceased to have statehood when partitioned from Maryland.
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Cession occurred under the Organic Act of 1801 which at Section 1 states that "the laws of the state of Maryland, as they now exist, shall be and continue in force in that part of the said district, which was ceded by that state to the United States, and by the accepted as aforesaid." "And provided also, That the jurisdiction of the laws of this State over the persons and property of individuals residing within the limits of the cession aforesaid shall not cease or determine..." Hence, the State laws of Columbia are contained in the Bill of Rights and Constitution inherited from Maryland. Columbia is a State of the Union.
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Congress has no power to directly alter or decide a State constitution, only the sovereign people may do this.
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Columbia's state constitution has not been altered since cession. It cannot be altered except by the approval of two consecutive General Assemblies.
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The population of Columbia at cession was 14,000. It did not immediately qualify for Congressional participation.
4. CONGRESS' POWERS OVER THE DISTRICT
United States Constitution Art. 1 Sec. 8 Clause 17 "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"
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Congress' exclusive rights are to the District of Columbia which is a city government. Congress has no special enumerated powers over the State of Columbia.
5. THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA IS NOT THE STATE OF COLUMBIA
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We're a one city State with our city government controlled by Congress. The State and the District of Columbia are separate jurisdictions.
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There have been many efforts to try and turn the District into a State. The courts, however, have decided, Adams v. Clinton, 90 F. Supp. 2d 35 (D.D.C. 2000), that "the District-as-state theory is untenable."
So, the District of Columbia government is not our State government and it is plain that Congress is not a state. This is consistent with our State rights existing in the State of Columbia exactly as written in the Organic Act of 1801.
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The laws of the State of Columbia include its Bill of Rights and Constitution, except where they have been superseded by District law passed under Congress' exclusive powers over municipal government in Columbia.
6. CONGRESSIONAL VOTES
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Our State of Columbia specifies in section 27 that we may elect Members of Congress.
Every ten years Congress must adjust the voting representation of each State, see United States Constitution Article 1 Sec 2. Under that process Columbia qualified for representation in 1860.
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There is another requirement: Art 4, Section 3, Clause 1 of the United State Constitution says "New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new States shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress."
Since Columbia was formed by the Organic Act of 1801 with the consent of Congress and the legislature of Maryland so it inherently passes the above Art 4 test for admission.
OUR RIGHTS
Columbia's membership of the Union guarantees equality of the citizens of all States under the United State Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land.
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Columbia's constitution at section 1 provides for the election of a General Assembly comprising a House of Delegates and a Senate. It also provides for a Governor elected by the General Assembly and a Governor's Council. Columbia's constitution also provides for the election of representatives to Congress.
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The only unequal treatment is from Congress' exclusive legislative powers over the District of Columbia, which has the same physical land as the State of Columbia. This achieves the founder's purpose that the State within which the seat of the United States government resides should not be able to exert unequal influence on Congress merely because it is in the same place. This concern arose from the Philadelphia Mutiny of 1783 in which the militia besieged Congress. Congress' municipal powers in Columbia are enumerated in Article I, Section 8, Clause 17 of the U.S. Constitution.
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Columbia's state laws, therefore, are those defined in its 1776 Bill of Rights and Constitution except to the extent that they are superseded by District law properly enacted by Congress using its exclusive legislative powers over municipal affairs.
Columbia’s lawful right to participation in Congress is stated in Art. XXVII of its State Constitution and Form of Government passed by convention August 14, 1776:
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"XXVII. That the Delegates to Congress, from this State, shall be chosen annually, or superseded in the mean time by the joint ballot of both Houses of Assembly; and that there be a rotation, in such manner, that at least two of the number be annually changed; and no person shall be capable of being a Delegate to Congress for more than three in any term of six years; and no person, who holds any office of profit in the gift of Congress, shall be eligible to sit in Congress; but if appointed to any such office, his seat shall be thereby vacated ... fourteenth of August, A. D. one thousand seven hundred and seventy-six. By order of the Convention. M. TILGHMAN, President.”
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To comply with the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1791, Congress explicitly agreed the above State Constitution was law in Columbia in section 1 of its Organic Act of 1801:“..the laws of the State of Maryland, as they now exist, shall be and continue in force in that part of said district, which was ceded by that state to the United States and by them accepted as aforesaid.”
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Columbia's councillors signed the U.S. Constitution in 1788.
We have a deal. Columbia is a State of the Union.
Congress must admit Columbia's voting representation. Its the law.
"The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states."
U.S. Const. Art. IV, Sec. 2, Clause 1
CONTACT
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