In the Shadow of Freedom: The Politics of Slavery in the National Capital

The 1846 Retrocession of Alexandria

141 A.฀glenn฀Crothers The  Retrocession of Alexandria Protecting Slavery and the Slave Trade in the District of Columbia In September 1846฀Alexandrian฀citizens฀gathered฀“around฀the฀public฀ square, en masse,”฀to฀celebrate฀the฀results฀of฀a฀referendum฀taken฀to฀decide฀ whether฀the฀town฀and฀surrounding฀county,฀a฀part฀of฀the฀District฀of฀Columbia฀ since 1791,฀should฀return,฀or฀“retrocede,”฀to฀virginia.฀According฀to฀the฀recent฀ act฀passed฀by฀Congress,฀a฀vote฀of฀the฀region’s฀white฀male฀citizens฀was฀required฀ before the retrocession of the portion of the district south of the Potomac River฀could฀proceed.฀The฀crowd฀greeted฀the฀results฀of฀the฀vote,฀763 to 222 in favor of retrocession, with “the loudest cheers, and a salvo from the artillery .”฀After฀the฀overwhelming฀vote฀in฀favor฀of฀a฀return฀to฀virginia,฀all฀that฀ remained฀was฀the฀president’s฀signature.฀The฀successful฀referendum฀was฀the฀ culmination฀of฀a฀more฀than฀decade-long฀campaign฀to฀remove฀Alexandria฀ from฀the฀district,฀and฀supporters฀had฀reason฀to฀celebrate.฀“young฀folks฀lighted฀ torches,”฀the฀crowd฀produced฀“flags,฀banners,฀and฀transparencies”฀to฀herald฀ the฀event,฀“fire฀arms฀.฀.฀.฀were฀discharged,฀rockets,฀squips฀and฀crackers฀were฀ let฀off,฀and฀general฀joy฀and฀enthusiasm฀prevailed.”฀After฀a฀series฀of฀“eloquent ฀speeches,”฀“the฀crowd฀formed฀in฀procession”฀to฀cross฀“the฀old฀line฀ that฀used฀to฀divide฀us฀from฀virginia”฀and฀fire฀“upon฀the฀soil฀of฀our฀State฀.฀.฀.฀a฀ National฀Salute฀of฀ReTROCeSSION.”1 ฀The฀rhetoric฀is฀revealing.฀With฀ 1 Alexandria Gazette, Sept. 4, 1846. For additional descriptions of these celebrations, see Mark David Richards, “The Debates over the Retrocession of the District of Columbia, 1801–2004,”฀Washington History 16฀(Spring/Summer฀2004):72; and Harold W. Hurst, Alexandria on the Potomac: The Portrait of an Antebellum Community (Lanham, Md., 1991), p. 4. 142 A. Glenn Crothers retrocession฀the฀residents฀of฀Alexandria฀and฀its฀hinterland฀turned฀south,฀in฀ the฀process฀abandoning฀a฀fervent฀nationalism฀that฀had฀defined฀the฀town฀and฀ region฀before฀1820.฀Alexandrians’฀allegiance฀was฀now฀to฀the฀state฀of฀virginia฀ —“our฀state”—rather฀than฀to฀the฀nation฀and฀its฀federal฀district.฀In฀redrawing฀ the฀border฀of฀the฀district฀white฀Alexandrians฀were฀choosing฀sides฀in฀a฀broader฀ sectional divide. ฀ Of฀course,฀supporters฀of฀the฀return฀to฀virginian฀sovereignty฀emphasized฀ more฀pragmatic฀and฀politically฀acceptable฀reasons฀for฀retrocession.฀Returning ฀to฀virginia,฀supporters฀argued,฀would฀end฀the฀disfranchisement฀from฀ which฀Alexandria’s฀voters฀suffered฀under฀federal฀jurisdiction;฀it฀would฀ensure ฀that฀Alexandria฀was฀no฀longer฀neglected฀by฀a฀national฀legislature฀that฀ lacked฀the฀time฀or฀interest฀to฀protect฀the฀region’s฀welfare;฀and฀it฀would฀enable ฀the฀town’s฀economy,฀which฀had฀been฀moribund฀for฀decades,฀to฀revive฀ and฀prosper.฀Behind฀these฀arguments,฀however,฀lay฀a฀more฀complicated฀reality linked to the partisan divides of the 1830s and 1840s฀and฀the฀increasingly฀ vociferous฀national฀debate฀over฀slavery฀and฀abolition.฀The฀district’s฀unique฀ legal฀status—the฀ten-mile฀square฀over฀which฀most฀politicians฀agreed฀Congress ฀had฀sovereignty—made฀it฀subject฀to฀the฀political฀agendas฀of฀congressmen of different political stripes. Radical or Loco-Foco Democrats tried to implement฀their฀hard฀currency฀and฀antibank฀agenda฀within฀the฀district;฀states’฀ rights฀and฀proslavery฀Democrats฀and฀Whigs฀tried฀to฀reduce฀congressional฀ spending฀within฀the฀district฀in฀order฀to฀minimize฀federal฀power;฀and฀most฀ portentous฀ for฀ slaveholding฀ Alexandrians,฀ abolitionists฀ in฀ the฀ mid-1830s sought฀to฀end฀slavery฀and฀the฀slave฀trade฀within฀the฀district,฀initiating฀a฀massive ฀petition฀campaign฀designed฀to฀overwhelm฀Congress.฀These฀various฀attacks ฀on฀the฀interests฀of฀the฀town฀enabled฀local฀leaders฀to฀forge฀a฀broad฀and฀ unlikely฀coalition฀that฀included฀probank฀and฀prodevelopment฀Whigs,฀local฀ Quaker฀ merchants,฀ slaveholding฀ merchants฀ and฀ planters,฀ and฀ local฀ slave฀ traders.฀But฀town฀leaders฀also฀needed฀allies฀in฀Congress.฀They฀turned฀to฀states’฀ rights฀and฀proslavery฀southerners,฀men฀like฀R.฀M.฀T.฀Hunter฀of฀virginia฀and฀ John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, who viewed retrocession as part of a broader฀campaign฀to฀protect฀the฀institutions฀and฀interests฀of฀the฀South. ฀ In฀short,฀though฀some฀locals฀supported฀retrocession฀for฀reasons฀other฀than฀ the฀protection฀of฀slavery,฀the฀symbolic฀significance฀of฀the฀district฀and฀the฀ hardening฀of฀the฀border฀between฀slavery฀and฀freedom฀during฀the฀sectional฀ crisis of the 1840s and 1850s฀transformed฀a฀campaign฀to฀protect฀local฀interests ฀(including฀slavery)฀into฀part฀of฀the฀larger฀national฀struggle฀over฀the฀fu- The  Retrocession of Alexandria 143 ture฀of฀slavery฀in฀the฀United฀States.฀What฀is฀striking฀is฀how฀rarely฀historians฀ of the broader sectional...