The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall. Though not in the geographic center of the District of Columbia, the Capitol is the origin by which the quadrants of the district are divided.

Officially, both the east and west sides of the Capitol are referred to as "fronts." Historically, however, the east front was the side of the building intended for the arrival of visitors and dignitaries. Prior to establishing the nation's capital in Washington, D.C., the United States Congress and its predecessors had met in Philadelphia, New York City, and a number of other locations. In September 1774, the First Continental Congress brought together delegates from the colonies in Philadelphia, followed by the Second Continental Congress which met from 1775 to 1781.

Upon gaining independence, the Congress of the Confederation was formed, and convened in Philadelphia until June 1783, when a mob of angry soldiers converged upon Independence Hall, demanding payment for their service during the American Revolutionary War. Congress requested that John Dickinson, the governor of Pennsylvania, call up the militia to defend Congress from attacks by the protesters. In what became known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, Dickinson sympathized with the protesters and refused to remove them from Philadelphia.

As a result, Congress was forced to flee to Princeton, New Jersey on June 21, 1783, and met in Annapolis and Trenton, before ending up in New York City.

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