Continental Congress and American Revolution In response to the
Intolerable Acts, which had punished
Boston for the
Boston Tea Party, the
First Continental Congress met at
Carpenters' Hall in
Philadelphia from September 5, 1774, to October 26, 1774. The convention organized a pact among the colonies to boycott British goods, the
Continental Association, starting December 1, 1774 and provided for a
Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. On May 10, 1775, the Second Continental Congress assembled at the
Pennsylvania State House after the
Battles of Lexington and Concord marked the beginning of the
American Revolutionary War. Congress adopted the
Olive Branch Petition in July 1775, which affirmed American loyalty to Great Britain and entreated
King George III to prevent further conflict. The petition was rejected in August 1775, the King's
Proclamation of Rebellion formally declared the colonies to be in a state of rebellion. In February 1776, colonists received news that Parliament passed the
Prohibitory Act, which established a blockade of American ports and declared American ships to be enemy vessels. Although the measure amounted to a virtual declaration of war by the British, Congress did not have immediate authority to declare independence until each individual colony authorized its delegates to vote for independence. On June 11, the Second Continental Congress appointed the
Committee of Five, which included
John Adams of Massachusetts,
Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania,
Thomas Jefferson of Virginia,
Robert R. Livingston of New York, and
Roger Sherman of Connecticut, to draft an official
declaration of independence. Congress unanimously adopted its final version of the Declaration on July 4, marking the formation of the
United States of America. Historians believe that the Old State House Bell, now known as the
Liberty Bell, was one of the bells rung to mark the reading of the Declaration on July 8.
Philadelphia Convention '', a 1940 portrait by
Howard Chandler Christy After 1781, the national government operated under the
Articles of Confederation, which gave the federal government virtually no power to regulate domestic affairs or raise revenue. At the
Annapolis Convention in September 1786, the delegates asked for a broader meeting to be held the next May in Philadelphia to address the regulation of trade and the structure of the government. This resulted in the
Philadelphia Convention, which met from May 14 to September 17, 1787, at the Pennsylvania State House. The convention was dominated by controversies and conflicting interests, but the delegates forged a Constitution that has been called a "bundle of compromises". At the convention, delegate
James Madison presented the
Virginia Plan, which proposed a national government with
three branches with
proportional representation. Large states supported this plan, but smaller states feared losing substantial power under the plan. In response,
William Paterson designed the
New Jersey Plan, which proposed a one-house (
unicameral) legislature in which each state, regardless of size, would have one vote, as under the Articles of Confederation.
Roger Sherman combined the two plans with the
Connecticut Compromise, and his measure passed on July 16, 1787, by seven to six—a margin of one vote. Other contentious issues were slavery and the federal regulation of commerce, which resulted in additional compromises.
Seat of the federal government , which served as the presidential mansion of
George Washington, the nation's first
president, from 1790 to 1797, and then for
John Adams, the nation's second president, from 1797–1800 The
Residence Act of 1790 empowered President
George Washington to locate a permanent capital along the
Potomac River.
Robert Morris, a representative from Pennsylvania, convinced Congress to designate Philadelphia as the temporary capital city of the
United States federal government. From December 6, 1790, to May 14, 1800, the same
block hosted federal, state, county, and city government offices.
Congress Hall, which was originally built to serve as the Philadelphia County Courthouse, served as the seat of the
United States Congress. The
House of Representatives convened on the first floor and the
Senate convened on the second floor. During Congress Hall's duration as the capitol of the United States, the country admitted three new states: Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee; ratified the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution; and oversaw the Presidential inaugurations of both George Washington (his second) and John Adams. At the house, the
Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 and the
Alien and Sedition Acts were signed. While plans for the permanent capital were being developed, Pennsylvania delegates continued to put forth effort to undermine the plan. The city began construction on a massive new
presidential palace on Ninth Street and an expansion to
Congress Hall. The state government moved to
Harrisburg in October 1812, and since there was little use for the
Pennsylvania State House, the State of Pennsylvania considered selling it and dividing the State House Yard into building lots as early as 1802. The state came close to demolishing the hall in 1816. By 1818, the buildings had become surplus state property and were purchased by the City of Philadelphia, which used them uneventfully until late in the nineteenth century when the city government moved into a
new city hall. ==Park history==