First Congress convenes

On March 4, 1789, the First Congress assembled at Federal Hall in New York City under the new Constitution, although bad weather and long travel delayed a quorum. The House and Senate could not begin full business until April 1 and April 6, 1789, when enough members arrived to organize and count the electoral votes. On that same April 6 tally, Congress confirmed George Washington's unanimous election as president and John Adams's election as vice president.

The opening of the First Congress tested whether the Constitution could move from ratified text to functioning government. Senators and representatives had to establish rules, determine executive departments, and define the practical relationship among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The session therefore became the first real proof that the federal system designed in Philadelphia could operate through ordinary lawmaking rather than through wartime improvisation.

The First Congress went on to pass the Judiciary Act of 1789, create the Departments of State, War, and Treasury, and propose the Bill of Rights to the states. Those measures supplied the institutional framework that allowed the Washington administration to begin governing under the Constitution.