Chapter I
THE FEDERAL CITY
STORY OF THE MOVEMENT WHICH ESTABLISHED THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT NEAR THE POTOMAC
The problem of establishing a permanent seat of government for the United States was most perplexing. The Continental Congress was obliged for its own protection to travel from place to place to conduct its sessions. By the treaty of Paris, in 1783, the independence of the Colonies had been recognized, but they were then united simply as a confederation, and there was lacking Federal authority through which the needs of the Government could be asserted and provided for. This was felt keenly in the matter of obtaining the necessary revenue to maintain the Government, for the Continental Congress did not have the power of taxation and had to depend upon the good will of the Colonies.
The demands upon the Continental Congress were many. The War of Independence had impoverished the Colonies. There were the debts of war incurred by the Continental Congress and also the debts of the Colonies themselves—in all, $20,000,000, a huge sum in those days, and a factor which, as we shall see, figured in the location of the Federal City south of the Mason and Dixon line. Then, too, there was an army of soldiers being discharged, with no funds at hand to pay them for their services.
Prior to the establishment of the Federal City on the banks of the Potomac, the Continental Congress met in eight different cities and towns, viz:
Philadelphia, September 5, 1774, to December 12, 1776.
Baltimore, December 20, 1776, to February 27, 1777.
Philadelphia, March 4 to September 18, 1777.
Lancaster, Pa., September 27, 1777.
York, Pa., September 30, 1777, to June 27, 1778.
Philadelphia, July 2, 1778, to June 21, 1783.