The demands upon the Continental Congress were many. The War of Independence had impoverished the Colonies. There were the debts of war incurred by the Continental Congress and also the debts of the Colonies themselves--in all, $20,000,000, a huge sum in those days, and a factor which, as we shall see, figured in the location of the Federal City south of the Mason and Dixon line. Then, too, there was an army of soldiers being discharged, with no funds at hand to pay them for their services. Prior to the establishment of the Federal City on the banks of the Potomac, the Continental Congress met in eight different cities and towns, viz: Philadelphia, September 5, 1774, to December 12, 1776. Baltimore, December 20, 1776, to February 27, 1777. Philadelphia, March 4 to September 18, 1777. Lancaster, Pa., September 27, 1777. York, Pa., September 30, 1777, to June 27, 1778. Philadelphia, July 2, 1778, to June 21, 1783. Princeton, N. J., June 26, 1783, to November 4, 1783. Annapolis, Md., November 26, 1783, to June 3, 1784. Trenton, N. J., November, 1784, to December 24, 1784. New York City, January 11, 1785, to March 4, 1789. From March 2, 1781, the Continental Congress was also called by some the Congress of the Confederation. The first Congress under the Constitution met on March 4, 1789, and adjourned September 29, 1789. On December 6, 1790, the third session of the First Congress began in Philadelphia, which was the temporary seat of government until November, 1800. The Continental Congress was seriously inconvenienced by this moving from place to place. They could not take with them their records and files, were required to seek protection, and there was lack of adequate accommodations in some of the towns where they met. In Princeton the sessions were held in the college building, Nassau Hall, where the average attendance was only 22 Members. The suggestion had been made in November, 1779, by some Members that the Congress purchase a few square miles near Princeton village, whereon to erect public offices and buildings for a permanent home for Congress. The two leading factors that entered into the question of establishment of a seat of government of the United States were jurisdiction and geographical location. It was deemed very important to give to the National Capital a central location along the Atlantic coast. Debates on this question continued until 1790. On January 29, 1783, the trustees of the corporation of Kingston, N. Y., took the first recorded action by sending a memorial to the New York State Legislature that “their estate be erected into a separate district for the Honorable Congress of the United States.” It was proposed to grant to Congress 1 square mile within the limits of the town of Kingston, and the New York Legislature consented to this by the adoption of a resolution on March 14, 1783. Upon the suggestion of Alexander Hamilton and William Floyd this area was, in September, increased to 2 square miles.