As cities across the United States put their own spin on the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations, New York City and Mayor Zohran Mamdani also honored the Big Apple’s place in American history.
“I’m so proud to be the Mayor of New York City — our nation’s first capital — and to be celebrating America’s 250th anniversary on its historic shores,” Mamdani wrote July 4 on X.
Online critics quickly contested Mamdani’s historical reference.
“Philadelphia was our first capital. Everyone knows that,” conservative activist Jack Posobeic said on a reshare of the mayor’s post.
“So [Mamdani] gets an “F” on American History,” another X account deadpanned.
Both New York City and Philadelphia boast history aplenty as two of the United States’ foundational cities, each playing pivotal roles throughout the Revolutionary War and the nation’s early development.
“Mamdani is making a very reasonable claim that (New York City) is the first capital. But Philadelphians say the same, and also have a good claim on the truth,” Richard Bell, a University of Maryland history professor, told PolitiFact in an email.
Who’s right?
The case for Philadelphia
Philadelphia was never the official, named capital, but it hosted the First and Second Continental Congress in 1774 and 1776, respectively — the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence in what was then the Pennsylvania State House. The city became the newly-named United States of America’s capital in everything but title, although attacks from the British — and a revolt from unpaid Continental Army soldiers after the war — forced the Continental Congress to frequently relocate, meeting in places that included Baltimore; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; and York, Pennsylvania.
Despite the Continental Congress’ shifting location, Bell said Philadelphia was the unofficial capital after the Articles of Confederation were ratified in 1781. The document established the 13 colonies’ national government, the eventual foundation for the U.S. Constitution eight years later.
But Philadelphia wasn’t the only city to be the U.S. capital during the Articles of Confederation period; others included Princeton and Trenton, New Jersey; Annapolis, Maryland; and New York City.
Even after the Residence Act made Washington, D.C., the permanent U.S. capital in 1790, Philadelphia still served as the United States’ seat of government. As construction of Washington, D.C., was underway, the First Congress named Philadelphia the interim capital, and it remained so until 1800.
The case for New York City
Although the Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation were largely written and adopted in Philadelphia, the Constitution — the successor of the Articles of Confederation — officially named New York City as the nation’s first capital in 1789.
The Constitution’s wording essentially formalized the status New York had already unofficially held since 1785. The Congress of Confederation operated from New York City, even as delegates drafted the Constitution in the Pennsylvania State House.
Philadelphia regained its national capital title five years later following the Residence Act, cutting short New York City’s stint as the federal government’s home. But in the 16 months New York City was the nation’s center, it hosted the first meetings of Congress, as well as George Washington’s presidential inauguration at Federal Hall.
The final ruling is subjective, historians say
With each city claiming events integral to the United States’ founding, the title of “our nation’s first capital” could be applied to either. The choice becomes subjective, historians say, depending how one defines “nation” and when the United States became one.
Princeton University history professor Sean Wilentz said that many historians “consider the framing and ratification of the Constitution as the nation’s founding,” which would make New York City the first national capital.
“Personally, I think the NATION is called into being not by the Declaration in 1776, or the Articles of Confederation in 1781, but by the Constitution in 1789. So I’d say New York City is the nation’s first capital,” Bell said.
George Washington University history professor Denver Brunsman took the opposite stance.
“New York City was the first capital under the Constitution, starting in 1789. However, Philadelphia was the first capital of the United States, dating to 1776 and the Second Continental Congress,” Brunsman said.
