Construction of
Pennsylvania State House completed (1753) – built for the colonial legislature of the Province of Pennsylvania. It was the building in which the United States was born. Now it is known as
Independence Hall.
Second Continental Congress (1775-1787) – headquartered in
Independence Hall, in Philadelphia, the Congress acted as the de facto national government of what became the United States, by raising armies, directing strategy, appointing diplomats, and making formal treaties.[5]
United States Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776) – succession of the Thirteen Colonies from the Kingdom of Great Britain, enacted by the Continental Congress. This made Philadelphia the first capital of the United States, by virtue of the Continental Congress being
headquartered there.
Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783 – anti-government protest by nearly 400 soldiers of the Continental Army in June 1783. The mutiny, and the refusal of the Executive Council of Pennsylvania to stop it, ultimately resulted in Congress vacating Philadelphia and the creation of the District of Columbia to serve as the national capital.
Philadelphia Convention (May 25 to September 17, 1787) – met in Independence Hall, where the states' delegates created the United States Constitution, placing the Convention among the most significant events in the history of the United States.
Temporary capital of the United States (1790-1800) – Philadelphia served as the country's temporary capital while
Washington, D.C. was being planned and developed.