<P> The United States capital was originally located in Philadelphia , beginning with the First and Second Continental Congress , followed by the Congress of the Confederation upon gaining independence . In June 1783 , a mob of angry soldiers converged upon Independence Hall to demand payment for their service during the American Revolutionary War . Congress requested that John Dickinson , the governor of Pennsylvania , call up the militia to defend Congress from attacks by the protesters . In what became known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783 , Dickinson sympathized with the protesters and refused to remove them from Philadelphia . As a result , Congress was forced to flee to Princeton , New Jersey , on June 21 , 1783 . Dickinson 's failure to protect the institutions of the national government was discussed at the Philadelphia Convention in 1787 . The delegates therefore agreed in Article One , Section 8 , of the United States Constitution to give the Congress the power : </P>
<P> The United States capital was originally located in Philadelphia , beginning with the First and Second Continental Congress , followed by the Congress of the Confederation upon gaining independence . In June 1783 , a mob of angry soldiers converged upon Independence Hall to demand payment for their service during the American Revolutionary War . Congress requested that John Dickinson , the governor of Pennsylvania , call up the militia to defend Congress from attacks by the protesters . In what became known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783 , Dickinson sympathized with the protesters and refused to remove them from Philadelphia . As a result , Congress was forced to flee to Princeton , New Jersey , on June 21 , 1783 . Dickinson 's failure to protect the institutions of the national government was discussed at the Philadelphia Convention in 1787 . The delegates therefore agreed in Article One , Section 8 , of the United States Constitution to give the Congress the power : </P>
where did the us locate the first national government
where did the us locate the first national government
Philadelphia
Philadelphia