ington, carried the news of victory at Yorktown to the Continental
Congress in Philadelphia. These are just a few of the names that
come to mind. Shortly thereafter, on November 5, 1781, John Hanson,
of Frederick, was elected "President of the United States in Congress
Assembled. " It was for this distinguished Marylander we named the
fine expressway linking the present capital of the United States with
Annapolis, our country's first peacetime capital.
As I have previously indicated, following Yorktown the United States
was not legally free until a definitive treaty between the rebelling
colonies and Great Britain could be negotiated and ratified. Repre-
sentatives from the United States and England were working in Paris
to accomplish this end. There, on September 3, 1783, after long
negotiations, a definitive treaty was drawn up. John Adams, Benjamin
Franklin, and John Jay, representing the United States, and David
Hartley, representing Great Britain, signed the treaty for their respective
countries. But these men were only empowered to negotiate. In order
for the treaty to become effective, it had to be officially ratified by both
countries within six months. Copies of the treaty were rushed to Eng-
land and to the United States for appropriate action. But in those
distant days, communications between Europe and the United States
were no speedier than the fastest sailing ship, which required about
a month to make the voyage.
In the meantime, the Continental Congress was faced with the
multiple problems of setting up a new government. Even the job of
finding a suitable place in which to meet presented difficulties. At
that time, there were not very many cities that could offer adequate
accommodations for the national government. The Congress, meeting
in Princeton, New Jersey, had adjourned, completely discontented
with that town's facilities. They did not know where next to meet.
In Annapolis, where this State House had recently been completed, the
local citizens, with an eye to the future, persuaded the Maryland General
Assembly to invite the Congress to meet here. Even then, Annapolis
was a government center and the progressive-minded people of this
community were hopeful that their city might become the permanent
capital of the nation. Maryland's offer to the Continental Congress
was generous and hospitable. For instance, they offered our fine new
State House as an outright gift. The Assembly also offered the Gov-
ernor's Mansion as a residence for the President of the Congress. As
well thirteen homes and other buildings for the use of the delegates
from that states. To all this, they were prepared to add the gift of
30, 000 pounds to finance their offer.
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