Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783 - Effect

Effect

See also: List of capitals in the United States

There are three reasons put forth as to why Dickinson and the Pennsylvania Council did not act. The Council's official reasoning was that they were unsure that the local militiamen would actually protect Congress from their fellow soldiers. Further, the council may have thought that the conflict was not as serious as Congress believed and that the mutiny could be resolved peacefully. The second theory put forth is that Dickinson, having been an officer in the militia, was sympathetic to the soldiers' grievances. The third theory is that the Council refused to allow Pennsylvania, a sovereign state, to be subjugated by the demands of a few members of Congress.

After Congress completed its business at Princeton in early November 1783, the capital was moved later that month to Annapolis, Maryland, then to Trenton, New Jersey in November 1784, and finally to New York City in January 1785. It was not until the Constitutional Convention in 1787 that delegates decided to meet again in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania's failure to protect the institutions of the national government, however, was a primary reason why the framers of the Constitution decided to create a federal district, distinct from the states, where Congress could provide for its own security. The delegates therefore agreed in Article One, Section 8, of the United States Constitution to give the Congress the power "to exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States".

Following the ratification of the United States Constitution by the state of New York in 1788, the delegates agreed to keep New York City as the temporary federal capital. In 1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which created the District of Columbia, located on the banks Potomac River between the states of Maryland and Virginia, to serve as the new federal capital. Robert Morris, a representative from Pennsylvania, convinced Congress to return to Philadelphia while the new permanent capital was being built. As a result, the Residence Act also declared Philadelphia to be the temporary capital for a period of 10 years. In a final attempt to convince Congress to keep the capital in Philadelphia, the city began construction on a new Presidential palace and an expansion to Congress Hall. However, their efforts failed, and the national government relocated from Philadelphia for the final time on May 14, 1800.