By Lea Kahn, The Packet Group
For a few short months in 1783, Princeton was the nation’s capitol.
From June to December of 2008, a nonprofit group will celebrate the 225th anniversary of that historic interlude.
The Continental Congress fled Philadelphia for the safety of Princeton in June 1783, after American soldiers seeking payment for their services confronted the lawmakers at Independence Hall, said Martha Wolf, executive director of Historic Morven in Princeton.
The celebration, a cooperative venture of Historic Morven with other organizations, will include exhibits, lectures and performances. In re-enactments, George Washington will be part of an encampment, Martha Washington will be in residence and the Rev. John Witherspoon, then president of what is now Princeton University, will preach.
The Lawrence Historical Society took note of these events on Sunday, with a guest lecture by Ms. Wolfe. In 1783, members of the Continental Congress, fleeing the wrath of their own army in Philadelphia, had to pass through the farming community of Lawrence Township, along the King’s Highway, on their way to Princeton.
Elias Boudinot, who was president of the Continental Congress, had decided that the lawmakers should relocate, Ms. Wolf told the group. He wrote to New Jersey Gov. William Livingston that the lawmakers’ “honor and dignity” was at stake, and sought the state’s protection for Congress.
Gov. Livingston welcomed the Congress, she said. Mr. Boudinot settled on Princeton as a good location for the temporary capital, mostly because his sister was married to Richard Stockton, who signed the Declaration of Independence. The Stockton family built Morven in 1702 and the house remained in the family until 1944.
Princeton residents also welcomed the Continental Congress, Ms. Wolf said. The town was made up of about 75 houses and Princeton University, which was known as The College of New Jersey at the time, she said. Nassau Hall, one of the largest buildings in the Colonies at the time, was home to the college.
”Congress arrived and overnight, transformed an obscure village into the nation’s de facto capital,” Ms. Wolf said. Many members of Congress, however, were unhappy about the move to Princeton, she said, adding that it was not easy.
Charles Thompson, secretary to the Continental Congress, complained of the food, which he described as “stinking fish and half-baked bread.” Some of the lawmakers stayed in one of the many inns, while others boarded with local families, Ms. Wolf said.
”Princeton was not a bit like it is today,” she said. “This was really the country. Philadelphia was one of the biggest cities in the Colonies. The best thing about Princeton was Nassau Hall (where the delegates met).”
The Continental Congress reconvened in Princeton and attempted to hash out many outstanding issues of the day during the six months the town served as the nation’s capital, Ms. Wolf said. Progress was difficult to achieve, because the governing body often lacked a quorum.
Gen. Washington was summoned to appear before Congress to discuss the future of the army, which it had agreed to dissolve, she said. Gen. Washington stayed at Rockingham, a private home in Rocky Hill about five miles from Princeton. While he was staying at Rockingham, Gen. Washington wrote his “Farewell Orders to the Armies of the United States,” which disbanded the military.
Meanwhile, Congress waited for the peace negotiations between the United States and Great Britain to conclude, she said. The negotiations went slowly, even though the British had given up after their defeat at Yorktown, Va., in 1781, she said. The peace treaty was finally signed in Paris in September 1783.
Congress then wrapped up its legislative session in Princeton.
”What did Congress achieve in Princeton?” she asked. “(A group of) Quakers from Philadelphia presented a petition with 535 signatures to abolish slavery. What did Congress do? They referred it to committee.”
Congress also resolved the issue of what to do with land claimed by Virginia, west of its original border, she said. The land was turned over to the federal government and became the Northwest Territories. It was given out piecemeal to the soldiers who had served in the Continental Army as a means of compensating them for their service.
Lawmakers decided they did not want to return to Philadelphia, so they selected two potential sites for the capital — Scudders Falls on the Delaware River near Trenton, and the falls on the Potomac River, Ms. Wolf said. The Potomac River site won because by giving the capital a Southern location, lawmakers were able to convince the Southern states to chip in money to help pay down the war debt, she said.
”What is the significance of Princeton?” Ms. Wolf asked. “Congress saw how tenuous it was. There was (often) no quorum, and they were out of their comfort zone. Congress was seen as cowardly and ineffective.”
Yet, the lawmakers “held it together,” she said. Four years, in 1787, after they met in Princeton, Congress hammered out a new constitution.
For more information on the 225th anniversary celebration, “Princeton 1783: The Nation’s Capital,” go to www.revolutionaaryprinceton.org.
