- What were the rules established in the Constitution?
- What influence did the Continental Congress have on it?
- How was the decision made that they would meet in Federal Hall in NYC?
The "old" or Confederation Congress was charged with the task of putting the Constitution "into operation in pursuance of the resolutions of the late Federal Convention." Congress appointed a committee on July 2, 1788, but it took ten weeks to complete the task. When the new government would convene and where the presidential electors would vote was decided easily. Deciding where to meet caused delay because Congress was divided between those who wanted to stay at New York City, the seat of government since 1785, and those who believed the First Federal Congress, like the First Continental Congress, should meet at Philadelphia. Other locations proposed included Annapolis and Baltimore in Maryland, and Lancaster in Pennsylvania. An ordinance finally passed on September 13, 1788. Because of the bitterness of the fight, the ordinance did not name New York. Instead it said "the present Seat of Congress." New York's population of approximately 29,000 welcomed the new Congress with elaborate preparations and celebrations. Birth of the Nation.
- How were the elections conducted?
- How competitive were these elections?
- How did the members get to NYC?
- March 4, 1789: Constitutionally established date to convene.
"public expectation seems to be so highly wound up that I think disappointment must inevitably follow after a while, nothwithstanding that I believe there will be inclination and abilities in the two houses to do every thing that reasonable and sensible men can promise to themselves, but you know well how impossible it is for public measures to keep pace with the sanguine desires of the interested, the ignorant, and the inconsiderate parts of the Community."
Senator Robert Morris to Governeur Morris, March 4, 1789.
- The Opening of the First Congress in New York City.
- Birth of the Nation.
- First Speaker: Frederick Muhlenberg.
- Documentary History of the First Federal Congress, 1789-1791.
“Scarcely a day passes without some striking evidence of the delays and perplexities springing merely from the want of precedents. ”
Representative James Madison to Edmund Randolph, May 31, 1789
