New York City became the first capital of the United States government under the Constitution, a founding-era milestone relevant to America250.
The new federal government began operating in New York City in 1789. Federal Hall on Wall Street served as the place where Congress met and where George Washington took the presidential oath on April 30 of that year.
The capital later moved to Philadelphia in 1790. That change came from a political compromise: the federal government would temporarily use Philadelphia while a permanent capital was established on the Potomac River. Washington, D.C., became the permanent capital in 1800.
New York City is therefore not the same as the modern national capital, although it was the first under the Constitution. The city had also served as a wartime and early national center before the Constitution took effect. The sequence of capitals reflects the compromises required to organize the new federal government after independence.