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:
