As cities across the United States put their own spin on the nation\u2019s 250th anniversary celebrations, New York City and Mayor Zohran Mamdani also honored the Big Apple\u2019s place in American history.<\/p>\n
“I\u2019m so proud to be the Mayor of New York City \u2014 our nation\u2019s first capital \u2014 and to be celebrating America\u2019s 250th anniversary on its historic shores,” Mamdani wrote July 4 on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n Online critics quickly contested Mamdani\u2019s historical reference.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Philadelphia was our first capital. Everyone knows that,” conservative activist Jack Posobeic said on a reshare<\/a> of the mayor\u2019s post.\u00a0<\/p>\n “So [Mamdani] gets an “F” on American History,” another X account deadpanned<\/a>.<\/p>\n Both New York City and Philadelphia boast history aplenty as two of the United States\u2019 foundational cities, each playing pivotal roles throughout the Revolutionary War and the nation\u2019s early development.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Mamdani is making a very reasonable claim that (New York City) is the first capital. But Philadelphians say the same, and also have a good claim on the truth,” Richard Bell, a University of Maryland history professor, told PolitiFact in an email.\u00a0<\/p>\n Who\u2019s right?<\/p>\n The case for Philadelphia<\/p>\n Philadelphia was never the official, named capital, but it hosted the First and Second Continental Congress in 1774 and 1776, respectively \u2014\u00a0 the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence in what was then the Pennsylvania State House. The city became the newly-named United States of America\u2019s capital in everything but title, although attacks from the British \u2014 and a revolt from unpaid Continental Army soldiers after the war \u2014 forced the Continental Congress to frequently relocate<\/a>, meeting<\/a> in places that included Baltimore; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; and York, Pennsylvania.\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite the Continental Congress\u2019 shifting location, Bell said Philadelphia was the unofficial capital after the Articles of Confederation were ratified in 1781. The document established<\/a> the 13 colonies\u2019 national government, the eventual foundation for the U.S. Constitution eight years later.<\/p>\n But Philadelphia wasn\u2019t the only city to be the U.S. capital during the Articles of Confederation period; others included<\/a> Princeton and Trenton, New Jersey; Annapolis, Maryland; and New York City.<\/p>\n Even after the Residence Act made Washington, D.C., the permanent U.S. capital in 1790, Philadelphia still served as the United States\u2019 seat of government. As construction of Washington, D.C., was underway, the First Congress named Philadelphia the interim capital<\/a>, and it remained so until 1800.\u00a0<\/p>\n The case for New York City<\/p>\n Although the Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation were largely written and adopted in Philadelphia, the Constitution \u2014 the successor of the Articles of Confederation \u2014 officially named New York City as the nation\u2019s first capital in 1789.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Constitution\u2019s wording essentially formalized the status New York had already unofficially held since 1785<\/a>. The Congress of Confederation operated<\/a> from New York City, even as delegates drafted the Constitution<\/a> in the Pennsylvania State House.<\/p>\n