 When I say woe, I mean woe. Well, everyone knows that Washington, D.C. is the capital of the United States, but it wasn't always the case. At first, Philadelphia was the capital. But when the veterans of the Revolutionary War marched on Philadelphia in 1783 demanding back pay, Congress snuck out of the city and reassembled in Princeton, New Jersey. They later moved to Trenton, then Annapolis, and eventually New York City.