Which city served as the United States capital from 1790 to 1800?

Philadelphia served as the United States capital from 1790 to 1800.

The city had already been central to the founding era. The Continental Congress met there, the Declaration of Independence was adopted there in 1776, and the Constitutional Convention met there in 1787. Philadelphia was also the largest American city for much of the late eighteenth century.

The federal government moved from New York City to Philadelphia in 1790 after Congress passed the Residence Act. During the capital period, Congress met in Congress Hall and President George Washington lived in the President's House. The city remained the national capital until the government moved to Washington, D.C., in 1800.

Philadelphia is sometimes confused with New York City, which served as the first capital under the Constitution from 1789 to 1790. Philadelphia's earlier Revolutionary-era role also included periods when it functioned as the meeting place of the Continental Congress, before the federal capital arrangement existed.