In 1840, retrocession received renewed attention, and concrete steps were taken that would eventually end with retrocession six years later. That year, the banks of the District of Columbia went to Congress to seek rechartering, but the simple measure got wrapped up in national politics and a debate about banks in general. When the recharter bill failed and the banks were forced to cease operations in July, Alexandria called a town meeting at which they unanimously chose to begin pursuing retrocession. At the same time, Senator Robert J. Walker (D-MS) introduced a bill seeking to ascertain the desire of residents outside the limits of the City of Washington with regard to retrocession, but the bill failed. In August 1840, the people of Alexandria presented a memorial for retrocession to Congress with around 700 signatures in favor and only 12 opposed. On September 28, 1840, the Alexandria Common Council approved a vote on the issue, and on October 12, the vote was overwhelmingly for retrocession (666–211). In contrast to the 1832 vote, the vote in the county outside of the town (now Arlington), however, was overwhelmingly against (53–5). A later report on July 5, 1841 gave the result in town as 537-155 Even so, the effort temporarily stalled.
