New York City was the first national capital of the United States under the Constitution.
Congress made New York City the national capital in 1785, while the country still operated under the Articles of Confederation. After the Constitution took effect, the city continued as the seat of the new federal government. The first Congress met there, and George Washington was inaugurated at Federal Hall on April 30, 1789.
New York’s role was brief. The federal government moved to Philadelphia in 1790 under a compromise connected with the location of a permanent capital. Washington, D.C., later became the permanent capital after federal offices moved there in 1800.
People sometimes remember Philadelphia as the first capital because the Continental Congress met there during the Revolution and because Philadelphia served as the national capital from 1790 to 1800. In constitutional-era terms, however, New York City was first. Its Federal Hall site remains an important landmark of the early republic and America250 history.