American Monthly Magazine VOL. XIII. WASHINGTON, D. C., DECEMBER, 1898. No. 6 NATIONAL CAPITOL-CHANGES OF LOCATION, 1774 TO 1800. IN May, 1643, commissioners from four colonies met in Boston and signed articles of confederation, under the name of "The United Colonies of New England." These articles called for the yearly meeting of two delegates from each colony, to confer on all matters, which were for the general good. This is considered the starting point of our National Congress. The first call for a General Congress of the colonies came from Massachusetts. Indians and French Canadians were plundering the villages, and it was proposed to organize an armed force for defense. Commissioners from five colonies responded to this call, meeting in New York May 1, 1690, agreeing to raise 855 men to repel the invaders. Thereafter colonies held. congresses whenever arrangements were to be made for protection. On June 19, 1754, a Congress was held at Albany to make treaties with Indians and center upon the question of a Colonial Union for protection and defense in case of war with French Canadians. Twenty-five delegates were there, among them Benjamin Franklin. This Congress lasted three months, when the proposed union of the colonies was declared “absolutely necessary." However, the plans considered were rejected alike by colonial legislation and British Parliament, so the first attempt to form a Federal Union failed. The passing of the Stamp Act produced the greatest indignation, and when James Otis, of Massachusetts, called for a congress of delegates from all the colonies to meet in New York "to consult together on present circumstances of the colonies," twenty-seven delegates responded to the call, and on October 7, 1765, was formed what is generally known as the "Stamp Act Congress." This was the first congress ever convened by the people of America, the assembling of the others having been by "royal authority." The confused, disturbed state of the colonies will be remembered-the renowned "Tea Party," and closing of the port of Boston-the people realizing the gravity of the situation, asked from Massachusetts to Georgia what was to be done. After earnest consideration, Virginia, New York, and Rhode Island proposed a great Continental Congress, all the colonies sending delegates, to meet at some prominent city and determine what was best to do. The colonies accepted this proposition, and it was left for Massachusetts to decide the time and place. Samuel Adams introduced a resolution in the Massachusetts Legislature, then sitting, appointing a Continental Congress to meet in Philadelphia September 11, 1774. This was passed before the King's officials could "dissolve the body." This Congress, with Peyton Randolph, of Virginia, its president, convened at Carpenter's Hall September 5, with fifty-six members. It may be interesting to remember that Philadelphia in 1774 had about 20,000 inhabitants, a dozen churches, 300 shops, and one theatre, where plays began at 6 o'clock in the evening. The presidents of Congress were the chief executors of the nation, and were respected as such. The Government provided fine houses for them wherever Congress met, and some drew as much as $17,000 a year, while none kept house on less than about $10,000. The second session of Congress met May 10th, 1775, in Independence Hall. During the summer and autumn of 1776 stirring events quickly followed each other. The battle of Long Island had been fought, Forts Lee and Washington had fallen, General Washington retreating with his troops. through New Jersey, and the large British army was advancing on Philadelphia. Congress, frightened at the approach of the British and Hessians, simply waiting the freezing of the Delaware to march into Philadelphia, fled to Baltimore on September 12. They reopened their session on the 20th, meeting in a large brick building, standing on Baltimore, Sharp, and Liberty streets, returning to Philadelphia early in March. Gloom and despair were on every side, and this session of Congress was one of the busiest during the war. From 1776 to 1781 Congress was almost constantly in session, with only an occasional recess, the necessities of the hour requiring it to keep together for immediate action. On the approach of General Howe toward the Schuylkill, after his victory at Brandywine, the alarmed Congress, then in session at Philadelphia, adjourned to Lancaster, where they assembled September 27, 1777. After a session of a few hours, they crossed the Susquehanna to York, remaining until the following summer, when the British withdrew from Philadelphia. It will be noticed that from December 20, 1776, to July 2, 1778, the sessions of Congress were held in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Lancaster, and York, returning to Philadelphia on July 2, these moves being necessary to avoid capture. Congress continued to meet at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, until 1783, when its session was disturbed by three hundred Continental troops of the Pennsylvania Line, who on June 21 marched to the State House, surrounded it, placed guards at the door, and violently demanded that within twenty minutes action for redress of grievances should be taken, or an enraged soldiery be let in upon them. Congress, we are told, "was firm, declared that body had been grossly insulted, and resolved to meet at Princeton, New Jersey," where the members assembled on the 25th. General Washington at once sent General Robert Howe with fifteen hundred men, who soon quelled the disturbance. In November, 1783, Congress moved to Annapolis, holding sessions in the old Maryland State House. It will be recalled to mind that it was here General Washington returned his commission as commander-in-chief of the army, after that touching farewell to his officers in New York on December 4. After meeting for one year at Annapolis, we find the fugitive Congress in November, 1784, removed to Trenton, New Jersey. The stay here was short, for in January, 1785, Congress assembled in the old City Hall of New York, where it remained four years. On July 9, 1790, Congress passed an act establishing a fixed seat for the Federal Government, to be provided by the Presi dent, which was to be a "district of territory ten miles square." It was later decided that on the first Monday in December, |