Democracy Deferred: Race, Politics, and D.C.’s Two-Century Struggle for Full Voting Rights
No Thumbnail Available
Permanent Link
Author/Creator
Author/Creator ORCID
Date
Department
Program
Citation of Original Publication
George Derek Musgrove and Chris Myers Asch, Democracy Deferred: Race, Politics, and D.C.’s Two-Century Struggle for Full Voting Rights, Statehood Research DC, March 2021, https://assets.website-files.com/5df7f915fcb12b538aa0494f/60541fb1af8047a0fde84ad7_Democracy%20Deferred.March.2021.pdf
Rights
This item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.
Abstract
This report provides a summary and analysis of the circumstances that led the citizens who lived
in the area designated as the seat of government to lose their right to vote in 1801, why Congress
has only partially addressed this state of affairs in the intervening 220 years, and how the modern
struggle for self-determination among Washington, D.C., residents has evolved into the present
push for statehood.
Key historical points to understand include:
• The Founders never reconciled the tension between the revolutionary imperative for
“no taxation without representation” and the federal government’s need for “exclusive
legislation” regarding the seat of government. D.C. residents originally voted for U.S.
senators and representatives, but that right was stripped away when Congress claimed
“exclusive legislation” over the federal district with the Organic Act of 1801. D.C. residents
objected to losing their rights, arguing for the primacy of the principle of “no taxation without
representation.”
• After a brief flowering of interracial democracy during Reconstruction, D.C. residents, Black
and White, lost all voting rights in 1874. For nearly a century, race — and the fear of Black
political power — played a significant role in defeating all attempts to win home rule and
congressional representation as segregationists successfully derailed efforts to return
suffrage to District residents.
• Buoyed by the civil rights movement, a bipartisan, interracial coalition of activists, with
support from federal leaders, won a series of victories that provided for a vote in presidential
elections, local self-government, and a non-voting delegate in the House of Representatives
in the 1960s and 1970s. D.C. activists gained bipartisan support for a constitutional
amendment providing for voting representation in Congress in the mid-1970s, but it was
defeated by New Right opposition at the state level. In the late 20th century, D.C. residents
embraced statehood as their favored vehicle for winning representation in Congress.
• In the 220 years since Congress set the precedent of taxation without representation, District
residents have repeatedly demanded a return of the democratic rights that they considered
their birthright as American citizens. Today, Washingtonians and their supporters nationwide
have coalesced behind a bill to grant statehood, which they believe will protect the principles
of both “exclusive legislation” and “no taxation without representation.”