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The original Federal Hall before it was remodeled. |
Prior to the creation of the United States Congress we know today, the Continental Congress (1774-1789) was the chief legislative and executive body of the rebellious American colonies and the emerging nation. While the Continental Congress had many weaknesses, its key success was passing crucial legislation which set the stage for the Constitutional Convention of 1787, where the blueprint for a new national government was created. After the confirmation of the Constitution by the states, the Continental Congress ceded its legislative powers to the newly-created U.S. Congress.
When it convened for the first time on April 1, 1789, Congress was not yet located in the familiar, domed Capitol Building in Washington D.C. The first meeting of the new federal legislative branch was in New York City, in Federal Hall, located at 26 Wall Street.
The lower house of the new bicameral Congress was called the House of Representatives. The first group of representatives consisted of 55 members from the Federalist Party, and 10 from the Anti-Federalist Party. Almost all of the representatives had previous experience in legislative matters, either participating in state legislatures, the Constitution Convention, or in the Continental Congress. The first House of Representatives included three signers of the Declaration of Independence – James Madison, Roger Sherman and Elbridge Gerry. On April 1, 1789, the representatives elected the first Speaker of the House, Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg, from Pennsylvania.
Expanding and improving the functions of the Continental Congress, the new House of Representatives helped usher in a vastly more effective federal government for the growing American nation. Among its early successes, the House established temporary committees to research and draft each bill, solidified its power to give limited orders to executive agencies, founded the national mint, and drafted the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, today known as the Bill of Rights.
The House of Representatives has evolved in many ways since its first meeting in New York City more than two centuries ago. But the original representatives were able to set a solid foundation for the United States Congress that we see today.
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