The problem of establishing a permanent seat of government for the United States was most perplexing. The Continental Congress was obliged for its own protection to travel from place to place to conduct its sessions. By the treaty of Paris, in 1783, the independence of the Colonies had been recognized, but they were then united simply as a confederation, and there was lacking Federal authority through which the needs of the Government could be asserted and provided for. This was felt keenly in the matter of obtaining the necessary revenue to maintain the Government, for the Continental Congress did not have the power of taxation and had to depend upon the good will of the Colonies.

The demands upon the Continental Congress were many. The War of Independence had impoverished the Colonies. There were the debts of war incurred by the Continental Congress and also the debts of the Colonies themselves—in all, $20,000,000, a huge sum in those days, and a factor which, as we shall see, figured in the location of the Federal City south of the Mason and Dixon line. Then, too, there was an army of soldiers being discharged, with no funds at hand to pay them for their services.

Prior to the establishment of the Federal City on the banks of the Potomac, the Continental Congress met in eight different cities and towns, viz:

Philadelphia, September 5, 1774, to December 12, 1776.

Baltimore, December 20, 1776, to February 27, 1777.

Philadelphia, March 4 to September 18, 1777.

Lancaster, Pa., September 27, 1777.

York, Pa., September 30, 1777, to June 27, 1778.

Philadelphia, July 2, 1778, to June 21, 1783.

Princeton, N. J., June 26, 1783, to November 4, 1783.

Annapolis, Md., November 26, 1783, to June 3, 1784.

Trenton, N. J., November, 1784, to December 24, 1784.

New York City, January 11, 1785, to March 4, 1789.

From March 2, 1781, the Continental Congress was also called by some the Congress of the Confederation. The first Congress under the Constitution met on March 4, 1789, and adjourned September 29, 1789. On December 6, 1790, the third session of the First Congress began in Philadelphia, which was the temporary seat of government until November, 1800.

The Continental Congress was seriously inconvenienced by this moving from place to place. They could not take with them their records and files, were required to seek protection, and there was lack of adequate accommodations in some of the towns where they met. In Princeton the sessions were held in the college building, Nassau Hall, where the average attendance was only 22 Members.

The suggestion had been made in November, 1779, by some Members that the Congress purchase a few square miles near Princeton village, whereon to erect public offices and buildings for a permanent home for Congress.

The two leading factors that entered into the question of establishment of a seat of government of the United States were jurisdiction and geographical location. It was deemed very important to give to the National Capital a central location along the Atlantic coast. Debates on this question continued until 1790.

On January 29, 1783, the trustees of the corporation of Kingston, N. Y., took the first recorded action by sending a memorial to the New York State Legislature that “their estate be erected into a separate district for the Honorable Congress of the United States.” It was proposed to grant to Congress 1 square mile within the limits of the town of Kingston, and the New York Legislature consented to this by the adoption of a resolution on March 14, 1783. Upon the suggestion of Alexander Hamilton and William Floyd this area was, in September, increased to 2 square miles.

On May 12, 1783, the corporation of Annapolis adopted a resolution calling upon the Maryland Legislature to allow the establishment of the seat of government at Annapolis, because of its central location along the Atlantic coast. The Continental Congress took note of this on June 4, 1783. New Jersey, on June 19, 1783, offered a site anywhere in the State. On June 28, 1783, the Legislature of Virginia offered to Congress the town of Williamsburg and agreed to present the capitol, the palace, and all the public buildings, together with 300 acres of land adjoining the city, and a sum of money not to exceed £100,000. This money was to be expended in erecting 13 hotels for the Delegates to Congress. Also the town would cede a district contiguous to it not exceeding 5 miles square. The legislature also offered to cede a like district on the banks of the Potomac and to assure a sum not exceeding £100,000 for the erection of hotels, and would also purchase 100 acres of land for the erection of public buildings. Virginia offered to cede land along the banks of the Potomac if Maryland would unite and offer a similar tract on the opposite bank of the river; but should Congress build on the Maryland side only the sum of £40,000 would be appropriated and the State would be expected to supply the deficiency.

The offers of New York and Maryland, as recorded in the proceedings of Congress of June 4, 1783, having emphasized the importance of the subject to establish a permanent seat of government, we are told in the annals of Madison that a day in October was named when the subject would be considered. However, during that very month a mutiny of dissatisfied soldiers took place. A band of soldiers started from Lancaster, Pa., on June 17, 1783, for Philadelphia, to demand from the Continental Congress the money then due. Congress appointed a committee to appeal to the executive council of the State of Pennsylvania, in session in the same building, for protection against the threatened attack by the soldiers, but the council refused, saying that the militia would doubtless not be willing to take up arms “before their resentment should be provoked by some actual outrages.” The soldiers, about 300 in number, proceeded to the state-house—Independence Hall—where Congress and the executive council were in session, surrounded that building, but attempted no violence. Occasionally some soldier would use offensive language and point his musket at the windows of the Halls of Congress, but at night the soldiers departed. Congress thereupon adjourned hastily to meet in Princeton eight days later. General Washington ordered a court-martial, in which two of the mutineers were sentenced to death and four to receive corporal punishment; but the convicted men were all pardoned by Congress. General Washington regarded the mutineers as “recruits and soldiers of a day who have not borne the heat and burden of war, and who can have in reality very few hardships to complain of.” The legislators were invited to return to Philadelphia, but the offer was refused, for the reason that the armed soldiers had grossly insulted Congress and it seemed useless to apply to the executive council for protection. This led to the appointment of a committee, of which James Madison was chairman, on the subject of a permanent seat of government. They submitted a report on September 18, 1783.

The committee reported on two questions: First, the extent of the district necessary; second, the power to be exercised by Congress in that district. As to the first question, it was reported that a district should not be less than 3 miles or more than 6 miles square; and second, that Congress ought to have exclusive jurisdiction. The report was referred to a committee as a whole, but there is no record that further action was taken.

When the question of a permanent seat of government was again taken up by the Continental Congress, it was the question of location that predominated; the question of exclusive jurisdiction had generally been conceded. The discussion was finally limited to two sites: First, a location on the banks of the Potomac at least as far south as Georgetown, which was favored particularly by the southern Members of Congress as being the geographical center of the United States; second, a site on the Delaware River near the falls above Trenton, which Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the other States near by favored.

On October 7, 1783, Congress decided that a permanent seat of government should be established on the Delaware River site, and a committee was appointed to visit the location. Ten days later, on October 17, 1783, Congress decided that there should be a National Capital at the lower falls of the Potomac, at Georgetown. This is the first mention of the present location of the National Capital. Pending the completion of necessary buildings, it was decided that the Continental Congress would meet at Trenton and Annapolis. But the idea of having two capitals was ridiculed by such men as Francis Hopkinson, who suggested that there be one Federal town to be placed on a platform supported by wheels and two places of residence. As to a statue of George Washington that had been authorized by Congress at the same session, he suggested it be placed on wheels and be taken to wherever Congress met. The idea of having two capitals was abandoned by legislation adopted at Trenton on December 23, 1784.

Two years elapsed before Congress took up the subject again. In the meantime a movement began, under the leadership of George Washington, to promote trade relations between Virginia and Maryland, and to establish trade with the western frontier by the construction of a canal along the banks of the Potomac. Washington became president of the Potomac Company at the time of its organization in 1785, and was its guiding spirit for a period of four years, until 1789, when he resigned from that office to take up his duties as first President of the United States.

A trade convention, held at Annapolis, led to the call for the Constitutional Convention, February 21, 1787, to meet in Philadelphia in May of that year.

On May 29,1787, the draft of the Constitution submitted by Charles Pinckney, of South Carolina, first mentions the section relating to the Federal district in the form in which it became a part of the Constitution of the United States (Art. I, sec. 8, par. 17), under the powers of Congress—

There was objection on the part of some lest such a provision in the Federal Constitution would create a government that would become despotic and tyrannical and result in unjust discrimination in matters of trade and commerce between the merchants within and outside of the district. But on the other hand the advocates for a Federal City over which Congress would have exclusive jurisdiction called attention to the great importance for the Government to have a permanent residence for the Congress and the executive departments, with their files and records properly housed, and cited the mutiny in Philadelphia as an illustration as to what might happen to the Government again in the absence of such Federal authority. On September 17, 1787, the Constitution of the United States was adopted and soon after was ratified by a majority of the States.

When the time came for the inauguration of President Washington, on April 30, 1789, in New York City, the Continental Congress was completing its sessions, having resided in that city from 1785, a period of four years. Of a population of 25,000 in 1776, the city in 1789 had a population of only half that number, due to the continuous occupation by the British Army for a period of seven years. During the evacuation the city was partly ruined. But a new era began; trade increased, and the city began to grow rapidly. The Continental Congress was meeting in the old city hall, which had been used by the British as a prison and was in a dilapidated condition. As Washington was to be inaugurated in New York, the people thought that city would become the seat of government, so the city hall was torn down and a new building erected on the site where the subtreasury building on Wall Street now stands.

It was recognized that the presence of that national body was a valuable asset to the city. Pierre Charles L’Enfant, who late in 1791 made the plan for the Federal City, was selected to design and construct the building. When the Members of Congress assembled for the First Congress under the Federal Constitution, they met in a building constructed with classical arches and columns, painted ceilings and marble pavements, and furnished in a magnificent manner with crimson damask canopies and hangings. The exterior was marked by a portico with arcaded front and highly decorated pediments. But the building had been erected too rapidly to endure permanently; poor work had been done, and in a few years it was demolished.

The building was called Federal Hall. Here on April 30, 1789, a date never to be forgotten in the annals of American history, George Washington was inaugurated first President of the United States of America. The spot where General Washington stood is now marked, as nearly as possible, by the J. Q. A. Ward statue of the first President, which stands in front of the subtreasury building on Wall Street. Just inside the door, preserved under glass, is a brownstone slab on which is inscribed:

STANDING ON THIS STONE, IN THE BALCONY OF FEDERAL HALL, APRIL 30, 1789, GEORGE WASHINGTON TOOK THE OATH AS THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

During the sessions of this Congress long and careful consideration was given to the question of a permanent seat of government. It had its place with great problems before Congress at the time—as the revenue bill, which would provide money for the newly established Republic, creating executive departments, plans for the funding of the public debt and the assumption of State debts, disposal of public lands, and establishing a judicial system. At the opening of the last month of the session the question of a residence for the United States Government was brought up. Protest was made against consideration of the subject in view of the other important questions pending before Congress that seemed to some to be more urgent, also because, they said, Congress was properly housed, and that other towns like Trenton, Germantown, Carlisle, Lancaster, York, and Reading would be glad to have Congress locate with them.

However, the southern Members, led by Richard Bland Lee and James Madison, Representatives from Virginia, argued for present consideration of the subject. They favored the Potomac River site at least as far south as Georgetown, which they asserted would be geographically the center of the United States. They claimed for their section of the country in this matter the consideration of justice and equality. They argued that there was no question more important—one in which the people of the country were so deeply interested and one on the settlement of which the peace and the permanent existence of the country so much depended. The question of location finally resolved itself into the consideration of two localities: First, a site near the falls of the Susquehanna, at Wrights Ferry, Pa., 35 miles from tidewater; and second, a site at Georgetown, Md., near the lower falls of the Potomac.

Great stress was laid on the importance of a site that would place the seat of government on a navigable stream far enough from the sea to be safe from hostile attacks. But it was also deemed very important to select a place that would offer means of communication with the western country, which was a subject, as we have seen, in which George Washington was interested for years previously. This argument was effective, as it offered advantages for carrying on trade with the vast western country for which the Potomac Company had been established.

The subject received the consideration of both the House and Senate in September, 1789, but its final consideration was deferred until the following year, in June, 1790. The southern Members, especially the Representatives of Maryland and Virginia, were particularly active, believing a decision on the Potomac River site was in their favor. In December, 1789, Virginia had made a grant of $120,000, and a sum equal to two-thirds of that amount had been voted by the Legislature of the State of Maryland for the construction of buildings, in addition to their willingness to cede the portion of the 10-mile square in their respective States along the Potomac River desired for the Federal district.

The final disposition of this question was settled by compromise.

At the time Hamilton had the funding bill before Congress, and lacked one vote in the Senate and five in the House to secure its passage, he came to an agreement with Robert Morris, financier of the Revolution, on the question of location of the seat of government. Also, Thomas Jefferson tells us, in his “Anas,” of a dinner given by him at which the residence question was discussed and an agreement reached whereby the southern Members agreed to the funding bill in consideration of the designation of Philadelphia as the seat of government for a 10-year period and thereafter along the Potomac.