Which city hosted the first United States Congress under the Constitution?
Answer
New York City
New York City hosted the first United States Congress under the Constitution.
The First Congress met at Federal Hall in New York City in 1789. The House of Representatives and Senate convened there as the new federal government organized itself under the Constitution. Federal Hall stood on Wall Street, and George Washington was inaugurated nearby on April 30, 1789.
New York was not intended to remain the permanent national capital. The Residence Act of 1790 selected a site along the Potomac River for a future capital. The location later became Washington, D.C., but construction and governmental preparation took time.
Philadelphia then served as the temporary capital from 1790 until 1800. Congress moved to the newly established federal district on the Potomac in 1800, when the executive departments and legislature began operating in Washington. This sequence often causes confusion because Philadelphia had been the meeting place of the Continental Congress and Congress under the Articles of Confederation, while New York hosted the first Congress under the Constitution.