WallBuilders Newsletter

First US Congress Meeting

On March 4, 1789 (233 years ago), the first United States Congress under the Constitution met in New York City! It wasn't until April 1st, when a quorum was reached that Congress began. (Pictured here is Federal Hall, their meeting place.) This Congress was very important in our nation's history!

First, it passed the necessary legislation to implement the governing system established under the Constitution. This included: establishing federal courts; starting the Departments of State, War, Treasury; setting compensation for government officials (which was only about $6 a day); and more.

Second, this Congress passed what would become the Bill of Rights. James Madison, determined to address the shortcomings in the Constitution, presented 19 potential amendments drawn from mainly the various state constitutions. The House of Representatives passed 17 and the Senate 12; ten of these amendments would finally be ratified by the states to become the Bill of Rights.

Members of the first Congress were well-known individuals at the time. Many were signers of the Declaration and others had signed the Constitution. Some of the members who signed these founding documents include: Abraham Baldwin, Charles Carroll, William Floyd, Elbridge Gerry, William Samuel Johnson, Rufus King, John Langdon, James Madison, Robert Morris, George Read, and Roger Sherman.

One of the lesser known members of this Congress is Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg who was the first Speaker of the House. He was an ordained minister from New York City who had left the city when the British invaded it during the War for Independence. Muhlenberg began his political career in the Continental Congress, served in the Pennsylvania state house, and was president of the state's ratification convention in 1787 (four dozen ministers were involved in their state's Constitution ratification debates). His signature appears on the original Bill of Rights document as passed by Congress.