Washington, D.C. Retrocession and a Brief History of the City

The health care buzz has returned to Washington after a month and a half lull following the Senate’s passage of their health care bill on Christmas Eve. As we roll out of February I figured we’d “March” on into some Washington, D.C. history to show you that partisan politics and young professionals aren’t the only trademark of the city…

Thanks, but no thanks Virginia. Maryland will do

First off, Washington, D.C. has a very unique history. Unlike major metropolises that sprung up in colonial America, such as Philadelphia and New York, Washington, D.C. did not exist even in thought until 1787. The District of Columbia, or as it was known then, Federal City, was actually created in theory by the U.S. Constitution in Article 1, Section 8: “[The Legislative branch shall have the power] 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.” The states that the Constitution speaks of end up being Maryland and Virginia, the two states straddling the Potomac River. Many may ask, why is Washington, D.C. where it is? Why isn’t it in the middle of the country? Why didn’t the founders use an existing city like New York?

There are several answers. First, D.C. was in the middle of the country. It is pretty much smack dab in the middle of the 13 original colonies. It also lies on a major waterway, which was a huge source of transportation and commerce. James Madison also argued that a new city was needed for security reasons to avoid mob riots in existing cities. Also, before there was anything built on the swampland that became Washington, D.C., New York City was the capital of the country. It was not until 1800, under the presidency of John Adams that any branch of government moved into the new city. The founders desired the country’s capital to lie on new ground, free from the existing culture of any one particular city. Finally, Washington is a unique city because it was built top-down, rather than bottom-up. That is to say, Washington was designed and laid out in 1791 pretty much exactly how it looks today… except that it’s missing the original southern half…

Which leads me to the retrocession. I am going to do this in timeline format so it is easier to follow:

1787-1791: A federal city is mentioned in the Constitution and remains a pretty sweet idea until G. Dubs (not Bush, George Washington in case there’s any confusion) pulled a Kennedy and said “by the end of this decade, I want a man on the moon.” … err I mean, “I want a place for all branches of government to conduct business.” Washington hires (and then fires) Pierre L’Enfant as the primary architect of the city.

1793-1800: Construction. In 1793, Washington laid the cornerstone of the Capitol building. (Side note: “Capitol Hill” and the Capitol building itself are some of the very few correct ways to use this spelling. Jefferson used this spelling in reference to the Capitoline Hill, which was the seat of the ancient Roman Senate). Maryland and Virginia both voted to cede land to create the District of Columbia. It is important to note that originally there were several separate entities: the city of Washington (downtown federal center), the county of Washington (MD area north of the river), the county of Alexandria (VA area south of the river), and Georgetown. Georgetown existed as an establishment before the creation of the District, therefore it remained its own locale until 1871.

1800-1845: Washington City within the District of Columbia became the center of government with the Capitol building (housing Congress and the Supreme Court) and the White House on the north side of the river. Consequently, Alexandria county to the south fell into a state of neglect. Unhappy with their conditions, residents in this area protested for action to be taken.

1846: Action was taken. Congress approved what is now called the Washington, D.C. retrocession of Virginia. In essence, all lands ceded by Virginia were given back to the state. The District ended the slave trade in 1850, while its neighbor across the river, Alexandria, now became slave territory.

1871: Congress passed the Organic Act of 1871 that merged Washington City, County, and Georgetown into one entity, the District of Columbia.

1961-present: The 23^rd amendment to the Constitution FINALLY allows residents of D.C. to vote for president. Today, the quest for full voting rights and representation continues. Some proposals include using Washington, D.C. as a “congressional district” of Maryland for voting purposes, while still retaining its own self-government. Another suggests simply making it a 51^st voting state, or even a retrocession of D.C. back to Maryland. Nothing has passed to date, and the debate rages on with D.C. residents donning the license plates “Taxation Without Representation.”

The Olympic Games: Lee's Brief History

Well it’s Olympic time in the neighborhood again and I thought it would be appropriate to delve a little bit deeper into this acclaimed world sporting event. Thoughts? Well actually I guess you don’t have a choice on the topic, so read on!

Olympic History and Olympick History

As many of you know, the Olympic games held today are based on the similar event of ancient Greece. These Olympic games allegedly began in 776 B.C. in Olympia, Greece to pay homage to Zeus and the other gods who lived on Mt. Olympus, but also to bring together the Greek city-states in an event that would not result in a scene from the movie 300. Therefore the games were religious and political in nature. These events brought together free men from all over Greece, and eventually Italy after the rise of Rome to compete in athletic competitions. There were also games held for female athletes called the Heraea games, to honor Hera, the wife of Zeus, which began perhaps as early as 100 year after the start of the male Olympics.

Just like today, the games were a major international event that fostered pride for one’s hometown or region. Events ranged from discus throws, boxing, chariot racing, to the stade sprint race which was approximately 200 meters (originally measured in stades, which is where our English word “stadium” comes from. My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding is true, every word originates from Greek!). Another interesting tidbit is that the Greeks used an Olympiad (4 years) as a standard unit for measuring time. So, the games began in 776 B.C. therefore the famous battle of Thermopylae (from the movie 300) was held in the year of the 75^th Olympiad (480 B.C.). The ancient Olympics continued even after the Roman occupation of Greece. Just before the beginning of the end for the Roman Empire, the Emperor Theodosius I disbanded the games in 393 A.D. because the collapse of Lehman Brothers and a $787 billion stimulus package put too much of a strain on their economy…. Ok so the real reason was because he believed the games were too “secular” and fostered the ancient pagan religion rather than his new adopted religion for the empire, Christianity. Much of what we know of the ancient Olympics comes from first-hand sources. One of the most important sources is Pausanius who was basically the Rick Steves of the classical period. In 175 A.D. he wrote a travel book of the Mediterranean area after visiting several historic sites in Greece, creating the basis for Lonely Planet today (slight exaggeration).

Skip ahead over 1000 years to 17^th century England. Games were organized under the title of the Olympick Games on Cotswold Hill in Gloucestershire, England by a man named Robert Dover in 1612. These "games" were a series of competitions that mostly revolved around organized fights and brawls. For instance, in one of the early fights a man named Sir German Poole fought a Mr Hutchinson, of Gray’s Inn, during which Poole cut off three of Hutchinson’s fingers before he had even drawn his sword. In revenge Hutchinson sliced off Poole’s nose, picked it up, pocketed it and went off with it so that it could not be sewn on again. What?! Yep. So anyway, the Olympicks were suspended during the English Civil War, but were restored after the Restoration. The games were then disbanded again in the 19^th century, only to be brought back in all their Olympick glory in 1963. Today, the games are more of a mixture of schoolboy fights on the playground, Scottish Highland Games, and Fight Club. The main attraction of the Olympicks today (aside from the massive consumption of alcohol) is the sport of shin-kicking. Yes, shin-kicking. Don’t believe me? Enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iKcDNfIy7w

Right, so then we come to 1896, after 1500 years the Olympic Games return to Greece for the beginning of the modern Olympic Games in Athens. Winter Olympic sports were first added to the games during the 1924 games in Chamonix, France. Until 1992, there were held on the same year as the Summer Olympics, but in 1992 the Winter Games were changed to fall on an alternate schedule falling on even years.

So that pretty much brings you up-to-date with the Olympic Games today. Some things have changed. Athletes do not compete in the nude anymore, and are even allowed to wear outlandish pants that the fashion police should have caught, such as the Norwegian curling team. But many things remain the same: peaceful competition, strict punishments for cheating, and even the granting of citizenship to stellar athletes to allow them to compete for a different country (recorded by Pausanius in 175 A.D. and news media in the 2008 Beijing Games).

Last random Olympic factoid: The entrance of the Olympic torch to begin the games was started with the 1936 Games in Berlin. Leni Reifenstahl (who lived to be 101, dying in 2003), the renowned German filmmaker who created Triumph of the Will, was commissioned by Hitler to document the games to show the power and glory of Germany. In creating this cinematic masterpiece documentary called Olympia, she envisioned a dramatic start to the event. She came up with the idea of the Olympic Torch Run to accomplish this effect. The act of carrying a torch in to start the Olympic grounds has no factual basis from ancient history.

February Holiday Fun with a History

I’m sure I’m not the first to say it, but the Winter Olympics for some reason just aren’t as exciting as the Summer Olympics. Therefore, while I watch paired figure skating, y’all are getting another post, and a timely one at that!

A “Love” for “The Presidents”

Valentine’s Day and Presidents Day back-to-back? Doesn’t happen often. Especially after nearly a week of the federal government being closed for a miraculous 10-day weekend for some. So what’s the deal with these two holidays? One is paired with Hallmark, and the other with history nerds like me (although in all fairness, you’re reading this so you’re just as guilty). But both with a rich and fascinating history.

In chronological order, Valentine’s Day, like all good holidays, has its roots in ancient Rome. There were actually several St. Valentines from the ancient Roman period, all of whom are enshrouded in mystery and vagueness. The first time any St. Valentine was mentioned was not until Pope Gelasius I mentioned him in AD 496 as a man whose good deeds were known to God. Skip ahead 1000 years to 1493, a legend surfaces that St. Valentine was a Roman Christian priest who continued to marry Roman soldiers in the 3^rd century when the emperor Claudius II desired an army of unmarried men, believing they would be stronger. St. Valentine was eventually martyred for performing these marriages. Another legend has St. Valentine as a Christian priest who was interrogated by the Roman Emperor Claudius II. Valentine was sentenced to death. While in prison before his execution he allegedly healed the daughter of the jailor and fell in love with her. He then wrote her love letters signed, “your Valentine.”

No one really knows exactly who St. Valentine was, but it wasn’t until the time of Chaucer (1490s) that the association with love and relationships began. As for the date, some say that it is on February 14 to combat the ancient Roman rite of Lubercalia, celebrating fertility, which was celebrated between February 13-15. Weird, I haven’t mentioned that mischievous little god Cupid, son of Venus? He was not associated with the holiday until it became a romantic holiday in the 1500s. And as our boy Shakespeare would say, “Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.”

In America, Presidents Day (or President’s Day, or even Presidents’ Day, all are officially correct depending on your meaning) celebrates all the presidents between the birthdays of Lincoln and Washington. However, the holiday actually differs from state-to-state. For instance, in Virginia the holiday is specifically dedicated to Virginia native George Washington, and no one else. This is actually how the holiday came to pass. In 1885, Washington’s birthday (Feb. 22) became a federal holiday, and the first holiday dedicated to an American citizen. In 1971, the date was changed to be the third Thursday in February, which often times makes it not fall on Washington’s birthday. Since then, several legislative attempts have tried to officially rename the holiday “Presidents Day” but all failed in Congress. It took help from the advertising business to push this unofficial title.

Again, depending on the state you’re in will depend how this day is celebrated. But no matter which state you’re in, it’s a federal holiday, which means no school and for federal employees… no work! Washington is 278 today by the way.

On a side note, check out this article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/14/AR2010021403568.html.

It is about slaves who worked for presidents in the White House and eventually lived in D.C. one in particular who worked for Jefferson and Madison with a fascinating story.

Create-a-Nation

Well, the federal government is finally back open tomorrow, my road is finally plowed, and there is a rumor that the metro may or may not be running in full service. Therefore, before I get back in the office tomorrow, here is another random fact for everyone to digest (and believe me this is random)…

Create-a-Nation: The Principality of Sealand

International law entertains some of its most interesting and bizarre cases with the entrance of micro-nations into the world in the 20^th century. Micro-nations are essentially self-proclaimed countries who are almost unanimously rejected by the rest of the world. Excuse me? Yes you heard me correctly, you can create your own nation! For instance, let’s say you were sailing along the coast of Britain one day and stumbled upon an old, abandoned barge. You climb aboard and imagining yourself to be a mixture of a pirate and Christopher Columbus proclaim, “I declare this barge to be ruled by myself, King Lee.” Sound ridiculous?

Well this actually happened! While there is no Leeland (yet), there is a Sealand. The micro-nation of Sealand was “colonized” in 1967 by Major Paddy Roy Bates, a British citizen who intended to set up his own radio station on an abandoned WWII British anti-aircraft fort that was set up on a sandbar 6 miles off the British coastline. In 1968, Roy Bates and his son were summoned to a British court for firing warning shots at a ship that had entered Sealand’s “territorial waters.” The court decreed that Sealand was not part of the United Kingdom because it lay 6 miles off British soil, and international law limits territorial waters to 3 miles off shore.

Bates heralded this as a victory for Sealand. Oh and get ready for this. In 1978, a German citizen named Alexander Achenbach, claiming he was the Prime Minister of Sealand, gathered a group of Dutch and German “soldiers” together and “invaded” Sealand, taking Bates’ son Michael, prisoner in an earth-shattering coup-d’etat. Roy Bates would have none of this. He decided to retaliate by enlisting a small army and a helicopter from Britain and took back the island, in turn holding Achenbach prisoner. To negotiate his release, Germany sent Ambassadors to Sealand. This court ruling along with the visit of German diplomats gave Bates all the de facto legitimacy he needed to claim independence. (Believe me, I couldn’t make this up if I tried).

Sealand now has a constitution, a flag, a national anthem, currency (that is linked in value to the U.S. dollar), a newspaper, athletes who participate in international competitions, and even issues passports (that are not recognized anywhere). Two recent changes in international law have affected Sealand and the future for any of us wanting to create our own island nation. In 1987, the UK pushed back its territorial waters from 3 miles off shore to 12 miles, thus making Sealand entrapped in the UK’s jurisdiction. Also, in 1982, the Law of the Sea treaty forbade any person from creating or claiming artificial islands as independent states. Lucky for Americans, the United States hasn’t ratified the Law of the Sea treaty, so if you stumble across an artificial island, have at it!

More to come on micro-nations at a later date.

Just Your Everyday History for Starters

Well this is the first of the blogs, and to begin I figured I'd share something timely and appropriate...

What Was the Worst Snow in D.C. History?

As those of you who live in the D.C. area (and even into West Virginia and Delaware) are very well aware, we have gotten a maelstrom of snow that has knocked out power, ruined weekend plans, and given all who live here with the worst case of cabin-fever since... well since people actually lived in cabins and had fevers. Forecasts before the storm were calling for anywhere between 6 and 40 inches of snow with the end result being closer to the latter. Most areas in and around Washington, D.C. accumulated more than 30 inches (Washington, D.C. official snowfall according to Reagan Airport was 17.8 inches), and are now bracing themselves for another 10-15 inches to be dumped on the region by the end of Wednesday's follow-up blizzard. Or as some Washington jargon creators have dubbed it, Snowpocalypse 2.0.

You will be interested to know that the worst snowfall on record for the region was in 1922 with 28 inches recorded. So while Gaithersburg, MD reined in 30 inches as its official count, and Crofton, VA recorded a whopping 34 inches, D.C.'s official snowfall is still 17.8 inches (still beating the 1996 blizzard that recorded 17.1 inches in D.C.). Reagan National Airport became the official scorekeeper for D.C. weather in 1941, but has recently come under scrutiny for possible inaccurate measurements. For instance, just a hop, skip, and a jump south (literally) of the airport in Alexandria, VA, snowfall was recorded at 28.9 inches. Conspiracy? Dun dun dunnnnn.

Even more than 1922 is believed to be in 1772 where snowfall was estimated at over 3 feet! Now keep in mind Washington, D.C. was not Washington, D.C. In fact, there was no United States in 1772, but unofficial records maintain that this was the worst snowfall the region has seen in the past few hundred years. Only 13 times since 1870 has there even been more than 1 foot of snow at any given time in the Washington, D.C. area. So not only did we endure a massive snow in December 2009, but now with the prediction of another foot of snow between Tuesday and Wednesday the region could be facing bringing this statistic to 16 times since 1870 .

In fact, one scientist predicted that if all the snow that fell on the East Coast were melted, it would fill 12 million Olympic swimming pools or 30,000 Empire State buildings. Yikes! Even the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate have cancelled votes for the week and Members could be seen hustling and bustling around the District struggling to uncover cars or find public transportation that was still working. So, continue to stock up on food, beer, and wine, charge your phone, keep a flashlight by your side, and let's get ready to brace for Snowmaggedon Redux. You're living through history! Watch it being made out your front-door.

Just in case you were wondering, here are the top 5 worst snowfalls in D.C. history according to the Washington Post:

January 27-28, 1922 ... 28 inches
February 11-13, 1899 ... 20.5 inches
February 18-19, 1979 ... 18.7 inches
January 6-8, 1996 ... 17.1 inches
February 15-18, 2003 ... 16.7 inches