Washington took the oath of office as first President of the United
States on the steps of Federal Hall in Wall street, New York city,
April 30, 1789, and for a short time the seat of government was here
before being changed to Philadelphia.
The history of how Alexander Hamilton, the great Secretary of the
Treasury under Washington, made the trade with Jefferson whereby the
present site of the capital was selected is interesting, as showing
that Hamilton, while constructing a powerful centralized government
with skill and ability, as even Jefferson’s biographer admits, cared
little about the location of the capital itself. The Southern States
wanted it on the Potomac; the Middle and Eastern States wished it to
be further north. Hamilton wanted the government to assume the State
debts, brought about by the war. Jefferson and his party were opposed
to it. Hamilton finally secured the support of Jefferson and his
friends in Congress in support of the assumption, while he delivered to
the Jefferson party the location of the capital at Washington. In after
years this was a source of great discomfort to Jefferson, he claiming
to have been duped by Hamilton.