On September 30, 1777, the Continental Congress convened in the brick courthouse at York, Pennsylvania, giving the revolutionary government a vital temporary refuge during the British occupation of Philadelphia. The delegates had fled Philadelphia weeks earlier as General William Howe’s army advanced. After meeting briefly in Lancaster on September 27, Congress crossed the Susquehanna River and relocated to York, a safer position west of the river.
For roughly nine months, York functioned as the political center of the embattled United States during one of the Revolution’s most difficult periods. As General George Washington’s army endured the harsh winter at Valley Forge, Congress confronted soaring inflation, supply and military-administration problems, factional disputes, and pressure on Washington’s leadership.
Yet the York session was also among the most consequential in the nation’s early constitutional history. In November 1777, Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, the United States’ first framework of national government. Although the Articles would not take effect until their final ratification in 1781, their adoption marked a major step toward defining a united American polity at home and presenting one abroad—at a moment when the Revolution was becoming an international war.
Image credit: Historical illustration of the York Courthouse, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
