New York City was the first U.S. capital under the Constitution.
The new federal government began operating in New York City in 1789. George Washington’s first inauguration took place at Federal Hall on April 30 of that year, making the city the setting for the launch of the constitutional government. Federal Hall stood on Wall Street in lower Manhattan.
New York’s role was temporary. The federal government moved to Philadelphia in 1790 under the Residence Act, which established a future permanent capital on the Potomac River. Philadelphia served as the national capital from 1790 until 1800, when the government moved to Washington, D.C.
The sequence can cause confusion because Philadelphia hosted the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, while New York hosted the first Congress under the Constitution. Washington, D.C., was the permanent capital, but it was not the first one used by the constitutional government.