In 1788, New York City was declared national capital of United States of America, over 230 years later NYC is set to play pivotal role in midterm elections 2026

In 1788, the Congress of the Confederation authorized the first national election and declared New York City the temporary national capital. In 1788, the United States stood at a historic turning point. The American Revolution had ended, the Articles of Confederation had proved inadequate for governing the new nation, and the Constitution was moving toward implementation. After New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the Constitution on June 21, 1788, Congress received the news on July 2 and began preparing for the transition to the new federal government. In September, the Congress of the Confederation established the framework for the first federal elections and selected New York City as the temporary seat of the new government. These decisions helped transform the United States from a loose confederation into a constitutional republic with an elected president and Congress.

The decision was especially significant because the Constitution created an entirely new national political system. Under the Articles of Confederation, there was no separate executive president elected by a national electoral process. The Constitution instead established a president, a vice president, a Senate, and a House of Representatives. Once the required nine states had ratified the Constitution, the Confederation Congress had to organize the transition. On September 13, 1788, it adopted a resolution establishing the timetable for choosing presidential electors and voting for the nation's first president. The resolution also set March 4, 1789, as the date for the new government to begin operating.

The first national election was unlike modern American elections in several important ways. Voters did not directly choose the president through a nationwide popular vote. Instead, the Constitution created an Electoral College system in which states selected electors according to procedures determined by each state. The electors then cast votes for candidates. The first presidential election took place during the period from December 1788 into January 1789, while congressional elections were organized separately by the states. The system ultimately produced a unanimous electoral victory for George Washington, while John Adams received the second-highest number of electoral votes and therefore became the first vice president.


New York City’s selection as the temporary national capital was another major development of 1788. At the time, New York was already an important political and commercial center, and Congress had been meeting there since 1785. The Confederation Congress ultimately decided that the incoming federal government would begin its work in New York City rather than immediately establishing a permanent capital elsewhere. The Library of Congress notes that Congress prepared for the new government in New York after the ninth state ratified the Constitution. The decision gave the emerging federal government a practical location while the much more contentious question of a permanent capital remained unresolved.

The temporary capital also became closely connected with the transformation of New York’s City Hall into Federal Hall. City officials made the building on Wall Street available to the new federal government, and it was expanded and remodeled in anticipation of Congress's arrival. The structure became known as Federal Hall and later served as the setting for some of the most important events of the early republic. In April 1789, George Washington took the presidential oath there, becoming the first president of the United States under the Constitution. Federal Hall therefore became a powerful symbol of the country's transition from revolutionary struggle to constitutional government.

The transition was not as smooth as the 1788 resolutions might suggest. The First Federal Congress was scheduled to meet in New York City on March 4, 1789, but transportation was slow and difficult. Members traveling by horseback, stagecoach, and sailing vessel arrived gradually, preventing the House from immediately achieving the quorum needed to conduct business. According to the U.S. House of Representatives, the House finally reached a quorum on April 1, while the electoral votes were officially counted on April 6. This delay demonstrates the practical challenges facing a young nation whose political institutions were being built almost from scratch.

Although New York City became the first capital under the Constitution, its status was always intended to be temporary. The location of the permanent seat of government quickly became a major political dispute. Regional interests competed over where the national capital should be located, and the controversy continued into the First Congress. In 1790, lawmakers reached a compromise establishing the future permanent capital along the Potomac River, while Philadelphia would serve as the temporary seat of government during the construction of the new federal district. The government eventually moved to Washington, D.C., in 1800.

The events of 1788 therefore represent far more than an administrative decision in early American history. They marked the practical beginning of the constitutional government that continues to shape the United States today. By organizing the first presidential election, preparing for the first Congress, and choosing New York City as the temporary seat of government, the Confederation Congress helped turn the Constitution from a ratified document into a functioning political system. The election of George Washington, the opening of the First Congress, and the historic proceedings at Federal Hall soon followed. Looking back, 1788 stands as a pivotal year when the United States began building the institutions of its new republic—and New York City briefly stood at the center of that extraordinary transformation.

Midterm Elections in 2026

Voters in the U.S. are more skeptical of government information than they were a few years ago, with majorities now saying they have little or no trust in federal government information about elections and politics, foreign affairs or the environment, a new poll finds.

The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and USAFacts shows that while mistrust of government information has grown since 2024, it’s also higher than it was at the end of President Donald Trump’s first term, underscoring how his recent attempts to dismantle parts of the federal bureaucracy may have affected public confidence in the executive branch, particularly among Democrats.

Those suspicions extend to the results of the coming midterm elections. Only 34 per cent of U.S. adults trust government certifications of election results “a great deal” or “quite a bit,” which is down slightly from 40 per cent in 2024. Certification is a typically routine process in which local and state officials confirm the vote count, but it’s become politicized since Trump lost the 2020 presidential election.

Trust in government information has also become more partisan since Trump’s first term, the survey found.

In New York, Democrat Cait Conley, a former national ⁠security official, is challenging Representative Mike Lawler, one of the more moderate House Republicans, in this Hudson Valley district. In New Jersey, Republican U.S. Representative Tom Kean Jr., son of a former governor, has faced scrutiny for an extended absence from the House. Kean later said he was ​receiving treatment for depression. Navy pilot Rebecca Bennett is ​the Democratic nominee.