The First Capital of the United States of America
Did you know? In 1789, New York City became the first national capital of the U.S. for a year.
Well, if you mean the first ever capital in the Revolutionary War under the Articles of Confederation, then it was Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
New York City, New York was the first capital of the United States of America under the Constitution (our current system).
George Washington, the first president of the United States of America, was sworn in, in NYC .
The First Continental Congress met in the Carpenter’s Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1774. This fact gives Philly a strong claim for pre-eminence in the first capital question. It certainly sells this role in history with the historical quarter around Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and the Constitution Centre. Philadelphia’s position was bolstered by hosting the Second Continental Congress in 1775.
federal hall in 1789, where the first president of the united states, george washington, was sworn in (image: NYPL)
The capital of the United States of America under the Articles of Confederation was a traveling political carnival, taking in Philadelphia, Princeton, Annapolis, Trenton and New York. After the Constitution was brought in force in 1789, the United States Congress first convened briefly in New York’s Federal Hall (images above in 1789, and below in 2017) before settling in Philadelphia in 1790 until it finally moved to its new, permanent home in Washington, D.C. a decade later in 1800.
26 wall street is the location of the federal hall, pictured here in 2017, where the first president of the united states, george washington, was sworn in (photo: lucas compan)
