Author: Aidan Dresang

Check out the video General Knowledge made on this topic, in partnership with ClioVis!

In the fall of 1777, British General William Howe took over Philadelphia, forcing the Continental Congress to flee to York, Pennsylvania. Prior to Howe’s occupation, the Continental Congress elected Philadelphia as its site of congregation because of the city’s infrastructure, political significance, and it being the site of major trade and commerce. The movement of the Congress to York was also a practical one: representatives needed a place of geographical refuge during Howe’s occupation.

The 1780s saw several other pragmatic shifts of the new nation’s capital. Back in Pennsylvania, the United States (under the Articles of Confederation) faced another attack—this time from within. In 1783, Continental Army soldiers attacked the Philadelphia capitol to receive payment for their service in the war. The Congress then fled and temporarily relocated the United States’ capital to Princeton, New Jersey. Later, in search for a permanent capital, Congress moved the capital to Annapolis and then to Trenton, New Jersey. 

As members of the Constitutional Convention lay the foundation for a new country, an approach toward locating the capital emerged, influenced by political philosophy. Political Scientists Erik Engstrom, Jesse Hammond, and John Scott argue that the revolutionary war marked a transition from choosing capital sites based on practical considerations—such as Congress chose Philadelphia—to instead follow “the theory of representative government developed in the new nation, especially as articulated by Madison.” In other words, the capital of the United States should be intentionally located to be accessible to the populations and interests it represents.

Throughout the 1780s, according to Engstrom, Hammond, and Scott, several states employed this new approach in relocating their capitols to be closer to population centers. The federal government followed suit with the Residence Act of 1790. The act called for the creation of a federal territory on the Potomac River. While the immediate catalyst of the act was an agreement between James Madison and Alexander Hamilton over state war debts, the capital’s positioning between northern and the southern followed the United States’ Madisonian ideal of creating a government that was geographically accessible to all. 

In another analysis of the changing U.S. capitals, YouTuber General Knowledge utilizes ClioVis, an interactive timeline software, to examine the immediate causes behind the shifts United States’ capital. He also asks, why did the revolutionary government so often return to Philadelphia for its capital? Watch his video below:

Check out the video General Knowledge made on this topic in partnership with ClioVis.

In 1895, Kittie Knox, a well-known Black female cyclist and member of the Riverside Cycling Club, defended her right to remain in the National League of American Wheelman (LAW). That year, LAW restricted membership to white people but Knox argued that they could not kick her out. Although LAW ultimately refused her admission, Knox kept cycling. Her defiance highlighted the broader significance of cycling for women’s independence.

Bikes offered women a new sense of freedom as they enabled mobility, challenging patriarchal constraints dictating what women could and could not do. The design of late 20^th century bikes also led women to resist fashion norms: traditional Victorian skirts were cumbersome for cycling, leading women like Knox to wear bloomers or shorter skirts. These clothing choices often clashed with societal expectations. In this way, cycling allowed women to embrace both physical mobility and greater agency over their fashion. 

The growth in women’s agency through cycling must be understood within the context of the women’s suffrage movement. As the idea of “womanhood” broadened in the 1890s, female cyclists championed women’s independence. Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote that the bicycle will “make [women] cautious, courageous, self-reliant, and increase their [practical] common sense.” To ride, women resisted female fashion norms, gained confidence in new technology, and learned basic bike mechanics. This self-reliance complemented the growing suffrage movement, which encouraged women to assert independence through activism and demonstrations, such as the Women’s Suffrage Parade.

The connection between agency in cycling and activism likely led Susan B. Anthony to argue that biking “has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world.” Anthony continues “the moment she takes her seat she knows she can’t get into harm unless she gets off her bicycle, and away she goes, the picture of free untrammeled womanhood.” The independence of biking can be linked to this renewed idea of female autonomy found in the 1890s. This renewed idea of womanhood became a core tenant of the women’s suffrage movement and contributed to the signing of the 19^th amendment. 

ClioVis collaborated with YouTuber General Knowledge to trace the evolution of the bike and its ties to the women’s suffrage movement. Former Graduate Student Natalie Johnson and ClioVis interns Evelyn Jackson and Champ Turner worked together to create a ClioVis timeline. A network of ClioVis events allows viewers to better understand the complexity of this story. Inspired by their work, YouTuber General Knowledge created a video bringing this history to a wider audience.