City Haze Trivia Quiz

The Continental Congress met at the Pennsylvania State House (or Independence Hall) in Philadelphia, then also the capital of Pennsylvania. The population of the city (the largest in the United States at the time) was somewhere between 30,000 and 40,0000. Philadelphia had several periods as the national capital:

July 4,1776-December 12, 1776
March 5-September 18, 1777
July 2, 1778-June 21, 1783

Events in this city during those times included the signing of the Declaration and early meetings of the Confederation Congress.

The next headquarters of the Continental Congress was at the Henry Fite House in Baltimore, MD. The population of the town in 1777 was approximately 6,000. During the Revolution, British occupation of Northern ports brought increased importance to Baltimore as a shipping center. Generally, Baltimore was not a site of military action during the Revolution.

The town of Lancaster, PA had between 2,000 and 3,000 people in 1777, then the largest inland town in the United States. It would be the capital of the United States for only one day (September 27, 1777) as the Continental Congress fled the British Invasion of Philadelphia.

York, PA was capital for several months (September 30, 1777-Jun 27, 1778). The inland Pennsylvania town had a population of approximately 1,800. During its months there, the Continental Congress wrote the Articles of Confederation, setting up the framework for a national government that would later be superseded by the Constitution.

The town of Princeton, NJ, was damaged from the Revolutionary War and numbered only about 300 people. The Confederation Congress met in Nassau Hall, which was also the home of Princeton University, then known as the College of New Jersey. The Congress met in the town from June 30-November 4, 1783. During its time there the Congress formally ratified the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War.

George Washington formally resigned his commission as commanding general at Annapolis, MD. This town hosted the Confederation Congress from November 26, 1783-August 19, 1784. The town of Annapolis has about 1,300 people. The Congress met at the Maryland State House. This was the only time that a state legislative building served as the national building.

The population of Trenton, NJ, at this time was about 1,200. The Confederation Congress met there from November 1-December 24, 1784. The Congress met at the French Arms Tavern. The town would later host a ball for George Washington en route to his first inauguration.

New York, NY (then located on the southern end of Manhattan island) hosted first the Confederation Congress and then the Federal Congress from January 11, 1785-December 5, 1790. Congress met at Federal Hall (then New York City Hall) with a temporary stop at Fraunces Tavern. George Washington's first inauguration took place in the city in 1789.

The population of New York in 1785 was about 25,000-28,000.

Philadelphia, PA, was the compromise between those who wanted a Northern capital and those who wanted a Southern capital. The city served as the capital from December 6, 1790-May 14, 1800 at Congress Hall. The population of the city in 1790 was about 44,000.

Washington, DC has served as the capitol of the United States since November 17, 1800. The population of the District of Columbia was about 14,000 in 1800 (with about 3,000 of that in Washington City). The Congress initially met in the portion of the Capitol Building today occupied by the Senate.