The Continental Congress in Princeton, New Jersey

From June 30 to November 4, 1783, Congress met in Nassau Hall in Princeton, New Jersey. During this period, Princeton was the capital of the United States.

The United States government fled from Philadelphia to Princeton after mutinous troops surrounded the statehouse where the Continental Congress met. The Revolutionary War ended two years earlier, in October 1781, when the British surrendered at Yorktown. The troops had grown weary waiting for a signed peace treaty with Great Britain, and Congress had not kept promises to provide troops with owed back pаy.

In 1783 Nassau Hall on Princeton’s campus served as home of the Continental Congress, but just six years earlier during the American Revolution, Nassau Hall was ravaged during the Battle of Princeton. The building is where British troops surrendered to General Washington. Nassau Hall is also where the Continental Congress learned that the peace treaty with Great Britain (Treaty of Paris) was officially signed.

While the Continental Congress met in Princeton, George Washington stayed in nearby Rockingham. In The Hesperus Prophecy, this is where some members of the Continental Congress challenge his charmed life and military exceptionalism. Thankfully, Hesperus has prepared him to demonstrate the blue light caused by the will o’ the wisp, saving his reputation.

Nassau Hall’s early days

British surrendering to General Washington at Nassau Hall

Nassau Hall today