Question: Which U.S. city was the nation’s first capital?
Answer: New York City was the first capital of the United States–George Washington was sworn in as the first President on the balcony of New York City’s old City Hall on April 30, 1789. But New York’s enormous Revolutionary War debt had the federal government hovering on the brink of bankruptcy, so Alexander Hamilton struck a momentous deal with Thomas Jefferson. The nation’s new capital would move to a rural setting just across the Potomac River from Jefferson’s native Virginia. New York, with its debt forgiven, would go on to consolidate its power as the country’s financial capital.
