Section 8, Clause 17. _congress 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, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards and other needful buildings._

One of the most interesting contests in American history arose in the selection of a site for the capital city. Congress finally accepted, for this purpose, one hundred square miles of land on the Potomac River, which was ceded by Maryland and Virginia. The thirty square miles given by Virginia were afterward returned to that State. The capital was to be in New York until 1790, then in Philadelphia until 1800. In 1800 it was transferred to the new district, called the District of Columbia.

VI. IMPLIED POWERS.

Strict and Loose Construction.--Our national development has been, in large measure, dependent on the interpretation of the next clause of the Constitution. It is often called the elastic clause.