Part of the point in yesterday’s post was that the challenge of
jurisdiction and use go back to the Constitution–well before the
land is even acquired or surveyed. The city would be built
slowly–much of the work done by slaves from Maryland as Joy
Kinard reminded conference attendees this past weekend–and its
governmental organization would change again in 1871, abolishing
the previous courts and cities. In its place, from 1871-1874, a
new government based on that of the U.S. Territories was put in
place with a Presidentially appointed governor and council, with
an accompanying House of Delegates elected by the city’s men. In
1874, a three man Commission, much like that from the city’s
foundational years, replaced the territory-style government.
This system would remain unchanged until 1967, when an office
for a Presidentially appointed mayor was established as a
prelude to 1973′s District of Columbia Self- Government and
Governmental Reorganization Act (87 Stat. 774) which granted
self-government to the city