First Inaugural Address | National Archives First Inaugural Address George Washington's First Inaugural Address, April 30, 1789 Records of the United States Senate View images of the first inaugural address Presidential inaugurations are important civic rituals in our nation's political life. The Constitution requires that presidential electoral votes be opened and counted by the Senate and House of Representatives meeting together, that the candidate with a majority of electoral votes be declared the victor, and that the president-elect, before taking charge of the office, swear an oath of office to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." In 1788, the Confederation Congress scheduled the first presidential inauguration for the first Wednesday in March of the following year. However, the early months of 1789 proved to be unseasonably cold and snowy and bad weather delayed many members of the First Federal Congress from arriving promptly in New York City, the temporary seat of government. Until a quorum could be established in both the House and the Senate, no official business could be conducted. Finally, on April 6, 1789 - over a month late - enough members had reached New York to tally the electoral ballots.

The ballots were counted on April 6 and George Washington won unanimously with 69 electoral votes. Washington was then notified of his victory and traveled to New York City from his home in Virginia. On April 30, 1789, George Washington took the oath as the first president of the United States. The oath was administered by Robert R. Livingston, the Chancellor of New York, on a second floor balcony of Federal Hall, above a crowd assembled in the streets to witness this historic event. President Washington and the members of Congress then retired to the Senate Chamber, where Washington delivered the first inaugural address to a joint session of Congress. Washington humbly noted the power of the nations' call for him to serve as president and the shared responsibility of the president and Congress to preserve "the sacred fire of liberty" and a republican form of government. At that auspicious moment marking the birth of the federal government under the Constitution, Senator William Maclay of Pennsylvania observed that even the great Washington trembled when he faced the assembled representatives and senators.

"This great man was agitated and embarrassed," Maclay added, "more than ever he was by the levelled Cannon or pointed Musket." After concluding his remarks, the President and Congress proceeded through crowds lined up on Broadway to St. Paul's Church, where a service was conducted. Social gatherings and festivities closed the nation's first inaugural day. Subsequent presidential inaugurations took place on March 4th (or March 5th when the fourth fell on a Sunday), until the Twentieth Amendment changed the date to January 20th beginning in 1937. George Washington gives first presidential inaugural address - Apr 30, 1789 - HISTORY.com George Washington gives first presidential inaugural address Share this: George Washington gives first presidential inaugural address Author George Washington gives first presidential inaugural address URL Publisher A+E Networks On this day in 1789, George Washington is sworn in as the first American president and delivers the first inaugural speech at Federal Hall in New York City. Elements of the ceremony set tradition; presidential inaugurations have deviated little in the two centuries since Washington’s inauguration. In front of 10,000 spectators, Washington appeared in a plain brown broadcloth suit holding a ceremonial army sword.

At 6′ 3, Washington presented an impressive and solemn figure as he took the oath of office standing on the second balcony of Federal Hall. With Vice President John Adams standing beside him, Washington repeated the words prompted by Chancellor Robert R. Livingston, kissed the bible and then went to the Senate chamber to deliver his inaugural address. Observers noted that Washington appeared as if he would have preferred facing cannon and musket fire to taking the political helm of the country. He fidgeted, with his hand in one pocket, and spoke in a low, sometimes inaudible voice while he reiterated the mixed emotions of anxiety and honor he felt in assuming the role of president. For the most part, his address consisted of generalities, but he directly addressed the need for a strong Constitution and Bill of Rights and frequently emphasized the public good. He told the House of Representatives that he declined to be paid beyond such actual expenditures as the public good may be thought to require. In deference to the power of Congress, Washington promised to give way to my entire confidence in your discernment and pursuit of the public good. After delivering his address, Washington walked up Broadway with a group of legislators and local political leaders to pray at St. Paul’s Chapel.

Later, he made the humble and astute observation that his presidency, and the nation itself, was an experiment. Related Videos George Washington | whitehouse.gov Air Force One George Washington On April 30, 1789, George Washington, standing on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York, took his oath of office as the first President of the United States. On April 30, 1789, George Washington, standing on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York, took his oath of office as the first President of the United States. "As the first of every thing, in our situation will serve to establish a Precedent," he wrote James Madison, "it is devoutly wished on my part, that these precedents may be fixed on true principles." Born in 1732 into a Virginia planter family, he learned the morals, manners, and body of knowledge requisite for an 18th century Virginia gentleman. He pursued two intertwined interests: military arts and western expansion. At 16 he helped survey Shenandoah lands for Thomas, Lord Fairfax.

Commissioned a lieutenant colonel in 1754, he fought the first skirmishes of what grew into the French and Indian War. The next year, as an aide to Gen. Edward Braddock, he escaped injury although four bullets ripped his coat and two horses were shot from under him. From 1759 to the outbreak of the American Revolution, Washington managed his lands around Mount Vernon and served in the Virginia House of Burgesses. Married to a widow, Martha Dandridge Custis, he devoted himself to a busy and happy life. But like his fellow planters, Washington felt himself exploited by British merchants and hampered by British regulations. As the quarrel with the mother country grew acute, he moderately but firmly voiced his resistance to the restrictions. When the Second Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia in May 1775, Washington, one of the Virginia delegates, was elected Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. On July 3, 1775, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, he took command of his ill-trained troops and embarked upon a war that was to last six grueling years. He realized early that the best strategy was to harass the British.

He reported to Congress, "we should on all Occasions avoid a general Action, or put anything to the Risque, unless compelled by a necessity, into which we ought never to be drawn." Ensuing battles saw him fall back slowly, then strike unexpectedly. Finally in 1781 with the aid of French allies--he forced the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. Washington longed to retire to his fields at Mount Vernon. But he soon realized that the Nation under its Articles of Confederation was not functioning well, so he became a prime mover in the steps leading to the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia in 1787. When the new Constitution was ratified, the Electoral College unanimously elected Washington President. He did not infringe upon the policy making powers that he felt the Constitution gave Congress. But the determination of foreign policy became preponderantly a Presidential concern. When the French Revolution led to a major war between France and England, Washington refused to accept entirely the recommendations of either his Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, who was pro-French, or his Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, who was pro-British. Rather, he insisted upon a neutral course until the United States could grow stronger.

To his disappointment, two parties were developing by the end of his first term. Wearied of politics, feeling old, he retired at the end of his second. In his Farewell Address, he urged his countrymen to forswear excessive party spirit and geographical distinctions. In foreign affairs, he warned against long-term alliances. Washington enjoyed less than three years of retirement at Mount Vernon, for he died of a throat infection December 14, 1799. For months the Nation mourned him. The Presidential biographies on WhiteHouse.gov are from “The Presidents of the United States of America,” by Frank Freidel and Hugh Sidey. Copyright 2006 by the White House Historical Association. Federal Hall National Memorial NYC - Free Tours by Foot Please activate some Widgets. Federal Hall National Memorial NYC The corner of Wall Street and Nassau street has been the site of government activity and played a prominent place in American history for more than 300 years. So many significant events of early America occurred at the buildings that have stood at this location including the first stirrings of pre-Revolution discontent and the post-Revolution formation of our federal government.

This was the site of George Washington’s inauguration and the place where the Bill of Rights was officially passed. Though the original building that served as the nation’s first capitol is gone, the current grandiose Federal Hall building serves as a national memorial to the events that occurred here. Location: 26 Wall Street (between Broad and William Sts). Handicapped accessible entrance at 15 Pine Street. Directions: Subway: 2, 3, 4, 5 to Wall Street, J or Z trains to the Broad Street station, 1 or R trains to Rector Street, A or C trains to Fulton Street. Hours: The building is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Closed on weekends and for all Federal holidays. Admission: Free Self-Guided Tours: Self-guided tours are available Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Guided Tours and Talks: Free guided tours are run Mon-Fri at 10 a.m, 1 p.m, 2 pm and 3 pm. The schedule is subject to staff availability.

Group reservations : Groups of 10 to 30 persons can make reservations for private programs. WHAT YOU CAN SEE INSIDE THE FEDERAL HALL NATIONAL MEMRIAL Rotunda In this domed main exhibition room, which feels like a micro-capitol building, you can see the actual Bible that Washington took his oath on at his inauguration. The Inaugural Bible is ‘permanently’ on loan from St. John’s Masonic Lodge Number One. On Inauguration Day, ­ everything was ready for Washington to be sworn in, when it was discovered that no Bible had been brought for the occasion! The Marshal of the Inaugural parade happened to also be the Master of St. John’s Lodge and he ran down the street to the Lodge at the nearby corner of Water and Wall Streets, grabbed the Lodge’s Bible and brought it back for the swearing in. The Inaugural Bible has been on loan ever since. On the east end of the Rotunda you can see a large cracked marble slab from the balcony floor of the original Federal Hall where Washington was inaugurated. You can also see part of the building’s wrought iron railing that was salvaged in 1812.

There are also a handful of dioramas illustrating Washington’s inauguration, as well as many original documents, paintings and artifacts from early America, including New York’s ratification of The Bill of Rights. There are also temporary exhibits, like the one on display until April 15, 2016, celebrating the diverse cultural, social, and political history of the New York City neighborhood of Harlem. Be sure to check out the heavy vault doors in the four corners of the room. They are a reminder of when the building was one of America’s six sub-treasuries storing vast amounts of gold and silver bullion in its basement. New York Harbor Visitor Information Center As Federal Hall National Memorial falls under the purview of the National Parks Service, the visitor center has information about opportunities provided by the many destinations of the National Parks of New York Harbor. Also in the Center are a few items that belonged to the very first First Lady, Martha Washington, such as the ring she wore while in mourning after the death of her husband. Portrait Gallery Here you can see paintings of George Washington and Alexander Hamilton as well as a display showing the restoration of Hamilton Grange National Memorial on its new site in St. Nicholas Park in Harlem .

John Peter Zenger Display Across the visitor center is a small display regarding the trial the of John Peter Zenger with an old printing press and information about how the trial led to the American conception of freedom of the press, now protected in the First Amendment to the Constitution. HISTORY The first building on the site was erected by the British to serve as City Hall of the colony of New York. Civic affairs were tended to here as well as legal matters. It was here that in 1735, New York colonist and newspaper publisher John Peter Zenger dared to criticize the British royal governor of New York. Zenger was arrested for committing libel and was imprisoned. He was put on trial and found not guilty having presented a vigorous defense that the material he had printed was true. His trial and the outcome laid the foundation for what would become one of America’s most sacred values, freedom of the press, later defined in the Bill of Rights. In 1765 the Stamp Act Congress (consisting of representatives of nine colonies) met on the site to protest British Parliament’s Stamp Act, one of the many tax acts that weighed heavily on colonists and which fueled resistance to taxation without representation throughout the colonies.

The growing frustrations of the colonists ignited into revolution on July 4, 1776 and the Revolutionary War was finally won by the colonists in 1783 and America was born. From 1785 to 1789, the old City Hall building was used by the new American Congress who, in 1788, ratified the Constitution. New York City served as the nation’s temporary capitol while discussions went on about where the permanent home for the federal government should be. Hoping to convince the new Congress to make their city the permanent seat of government, local business interests contributed funding for a major expansion of the City Hall. In 1789, the old City Hall building was gutted and remodeled according to a design by Charles Pierre L’Enfant, (who later designed the city of Washington D.C.) When the building was done, it was the first example of what we now refer to as Federal style architecture. It was from the balcony of the impressive new building, aptly named Federal Hall, that one of the most profound moments in American history occurred on April 30, 1789: George Washington was sworn in as the first President of the United States.

Great 3 min video by CBS news about GW inauguration and details about the bible some of clip filmed in Fed Hall Later that year at Federal Hall, Congress adopted the Bill of Rights and also the Judiciary Act which established the court system still in use today. Today’s Supreme Court and the Departments of State, Defense and the Treasury can trace their beginnings to Federal Hall. After only a year Congress moved temporarily to Philadelphia and then to the newly built capitol city of Washington, D.C. With the Congress gone and Federal Hall, although modeled, was still built on the much older City Hall structure, the city decided to tear down Federal Hall and replace it with a new structure. Despite its massive historic significance, the building was razed and its pieces sold for scrap, fetching $425. The impressive building that now stands on the site was erected in 1842 to serve as the Custom House for the Port of New York. Designed by Ithiel Town and Alexander Jackson Davis, the neo-classical style building embodies America’s most sacred ideal. The Doric columns of the façade resemble those of the Parthenon in Greece, the birthplace of democracy. The domed ceiling inside, designed by John Frazee, also echoes the Pantheon.

In 1882, John Q.A. Ward’s bronze statue of George Washington was erected on its front steps, marking the approximate site where he was inaugurated as president in the former structure. His arm is outstretched with his hand placed on what would have been a bible. Though the statue does not included the bible, the actual bible that Washington took his oath upon is inside the Memorial on display for you to see up close. In 1862, New York Customs operations had outgrown the size of the building, they moved to a larger location. (While you are in the neighborhood, be sure to walk over to the magnificent former U.S. Customs House at Bowling Green, an architectural masterpiece). In 1882, one of the United States Sub-Treasuries located here. Millions of dollars of gold and silver were kept in the basement vaults until the Federal Reserve Bank a few blocks away was built to house the nation’s wealth. In 1939, the Secretary of the Interior declared the structure a National Historic Shrine and in 1955 Congress renamed it Federal Hall National Memorial in honor of the building’s original purpose.

IN MODERN TIMES In 1920, a bomb was detonated across the street from Federal Hall, right in front of the headquarters of J.P. Morgan & Co., the nation’s most powerful bank. The event, now referred to as the Wall Street bombing , thirty-eight people were killed and 400 injured and the Morgan building was visibly damaged, but Federal Hall received no damage. One survivor noted of the nearby statue of George Washington: “Looking down from its pedestal between the massive granite columns, scarred by missiles from the explosion, the outstretched hands of the Father of His Country seemed to carry a silent command to be calm,” On September 11, 2001, Federal Hall served as a makeshift refuge for 250 people running from the massive dust cloud formed by the collapse of the Twin Towers located just four blocks away. The building had to be closed for a month to clean the interior of hazardous dust and to assess structural damage. On September 6, 2002, one year after the World Trade Center attacks, approximately 300 members of the United States Congress convened in Federal Hall to show support for the city on the first anniversary of the attacks.

The last time Congress met in New York City was at that site over 212 years earlier. On January 31, 2007, President George W. Bush delivered his State of the Economy speech in front of a special session of Congress and two years later, on September 14, 2009, President Barrack Obama spoke before an audience of Wall Street’s elite regarding regulatory reform and the need to restore America’s faith in the financial sector. WHAT TO SEE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD Your visit to Federal Hall will not take up too much of your time and there is so much more in this New York neighborhood of Lower Manhattan to do. Here are some suggestions: Tour the neighborhood on your own with our Lower Manhattan self-guided tour or our Federal Hall Is Uplifted, First by Steel, Then by Art By DAVID W. DUNLAP Birthplace of the Republic. Cynosure of Wall Street. Cradle of the Renaissance? Federal Hall National Memorial marks the spot on which George Washington was inaugurated. It sheltered 300 people on Sept. 11, 2001, an event that literally shook the building to its foundation.

And more recently, it has provided a civic forum for World Trade Center plans and designs. Beginning in October, it will also become the downtown branch of the Uffizi. As part of the Splendor of Florence festival that is to be staged throughout Lower Manhattan, the Uffizi Gallery will lend 22 paintings from the 16th and 17th centuries. All but one will be portraits of the Medici family. The lone exception and star of the show - perhaps set by itself in the column-bordered rotunda of Federal Hall - will be the newly restored "Madonna della Gatta," by Federico Barocci. "I believe this is the blockbuster that will open peoples' eyes to the glory of Federal Hall," said Debra Simon, executive director of the arts and events program at the World Financial Center at Battery Park City. The center's principal owner, Brookfield Properties, is a sponsor and host of the festival. Federal Hall, a 162-year-old Greek Revival landmark at Wall and Broad Streets, is undergoing a renaissance of its own. Last summer, a dangerously undermined corner was shored up. Later this year, two other corners and part of the east wall will be shored up.

Cracks will be stabilized and patched. And a new heating, ventilating and air-conditioning system will be installed. The $16 million rehabilitation can be traced directly to the attack on New York. "We have severe cracks in the infrastructure, which had existed prior to 9/11, but 9/11 exacerbated the cracking" of interior and exterior walls, said Joseph T. Avery, superintendent of Manhattan sites for the National Park Service, which runs Federal Hall. One of those fissures, in a basement storage room, had grown ominously in the wake of the attack. "What had been a pinhole was big enough that you could put your thumb in," Mr. Avery recalled. The park service called in the architectural and engineering firm Einhorn Yaffee Prescott. One of the attention-grabbing exterior cracks was at the corner near Pine Street. Formerly a hairline, it was now closer to a quarter-inch wide. "It seems to have been the seismic event of the collapses that triggered the cracking," said Marie Ennis, an engineer and the firm's principal in charge of the project.

Because the building is rigid masonry and is surrounded by subway and utility lines, it had been threatened by vibrations and settling soil for many decades. Indeed, the rumbling of passing trains can be felt through the hall. Ms. Ennis said the investigation of attack-related damage afforded the chance "to figure out, once and for all, what all the problems were at Federal Hall." Working with Langan Engineering and Environmental Services, the architects brought in ground-penetrating radar. What they found at one corner shocked them. "There was no soil, but 24 inches of air, under one of the columns," Ms. Ennis recalled. "I lost a lot of sleep when we found that air void." The solution was to insert four steel pilings about 60 feet deep down to rock. The next round of underpinnings will take the form of mini-caissons made of a concretelike grout that is injected in cavities drilled by a special rig. "Once that's done, we'll work our way up the building," Ms. Ennis said. Parts of the marble facade may be cleaned. Depending on conditions, the project is expected to take about a year.

At times, Federal Hall may have to be closed to the public. Built on the site of the Federal Hall in which Washington was inaugurated, the current building served originally as the Custom House and then as the United States Sub-Treasury. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation has used it in recent years to unveil plans for the overall trade center site, as well as the final designs for the Freedom Tower and the "Reflecting Absence" memorial. "It has, in many ways, re-established itself as the center of Lower Manhattan," said Kevin M. Rampe, president of the development corporation, which contributed $250,000 toward the $1.2 million cost of the festival. As for day-to-day events at Federal Hall, a treasure that many New Yorkers still manage to overlook, Mr. Avery said, "We're thinking about a broad range of enhancements and a broadening of programs." The park service, he said, is searching for a curator "because we'd like to fill the place" with exhibitions. For six weeks this fall, that will not be a problem. Twenty-two paintings from the Uffizi will go on view on Oct. 1 and remain until Nov. 15.

"We consider this an extraordinary event, because the Uffizi doesn't lend easily," said Ms. Simon of the World Financial Center. The centerpiece of the loan is a sweet and tender work by Barocci, who died in 1612, having "enjoyed a greater popularity and exerted a more profound influence on the art of his time than any of his contemporaries," said The Dictionary of Art (Grove, 1996). In the painting, a very sleepy-eyed infant Jesus is being rocked in a cradle by Mary. Within the folds of her robe, a mother cat nurses a kitten. Joseph stands before them at left. On the right is the young John the Baptist, with his parents, Elizabeth and Zachary. Other works coming from the Uffizi include portraits of members of the Medici family by Frans Pourbus the Younger, Justus Sustermans and Tiberio Titi. The Medici portraits are meant to emphasize the tradition of art patronage and craftsmanship in the Splendor of Florence festival, which will run for 10 days beginning Oct. 1.

Seven artisans - ceramicists, carvers, jewelers, lacemakers - will set up shop around the Winter Garden, in the World Financial Center, with exhibits and demonstrations. There will be tastings of Tuscan food, performances, concerts and a series of films set in Florence. The festival, founded by Joyce Acciaioli Rudge, was first presented in Providence, R.I., in 1999 and then in Philadelphia in 2001, an event delayed by the Sept. 11 attacks. Fund-raising for the New York festival is about $200,000 shy of the final goal, Ms. Simon said, an amount that corresponds roughly to the cost of shipping, insuring and guarding the paintings. That works out to $10,000 each and sponsors are being sought to adopt the artworks. "It's a wonderful, specific thing that people can do," Ms. Simon said. "Someone can say, 'I brought that painting over.' " Federal Hall, once located at 26 Wall Street in New York City, was the first capitol of the United States.

The building was demolished in the 19th century and replaced by the current structure, the first United States Customs House. The building is now operated by the National Park Service as the Federal Hall National Memorial, a museum that commemorates the earlier structure. Historic building J.Q.A. Ward's statue of George Washington in front of Federal Hall, on the site where Washington was inaugurated as the first U.S. President. The original structure on the site was built as New York's City Hall in 1700. In 1735, John Peter Zenger, an American newspaper publisher, was arrested for committing libel against the British royal governor and was imprisoned and tried there. His acquittal on the grounds that the material he had printed was true established the freedom of the press as it was later defined in the Bill of Rights. In October 1765, delegates from nine of the 13 colonies met as the Stamp Act Congress in response to the levying of the Stamp Act by the Parliament of Great Britain.

Drawn together for the first time in organized opposition to British policy, the attendees drafted a message to King George III, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons, claiming entitlement to the same rights as the residents of Britain and protesting the colonies' "taxation without representation." The building was remodelled and enlarged following the American Revolution under the direction of Pierre Charles L'Enfant, who was later selected by President Washington to design the capital city on the Potomac. This was the first example of Federal Style architecture in the United States. It was renamed Federal Hall when it became the first Capitol of the United States under the Constitution in 1789, and was the second Capitol of the United States (after the Maryland State House) since independence and union under the Articles of Confederation. The first United States Congress met there on March 4, 1789, to establish the new federal government, and the first thing they did was count the votes that elected George Washington as the first President of the United States. He was inaugurated in front of the building on April 30, 1789. Many of the most important legislative actions in the United States occurred with the 1st Congress at Federal Hall.

First among these were adoption of the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution; not long after the new federal Constitution was ratified, many Americans began to express their concern for its limited protection of individual liberties. Twelve amendments to the Constitution were initially drafted, ten were agreed upon, and on September 25, 1789, the Bill of Rights was adopted in Federal Hall, establishing the freedoms claimed by the Stamp Act Congress on the same site 24 years earlier. Also, the Judiciary Act of 1789 was enacted in the building which set up the United States Court System, which is still in use today. In addition, The Northwest Ordinance was adopted at Federal Hall which set up what would later become the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, but more fundamentally it prohibited slavery in these future states. In 1809, several city notables, including Clement Clarke Moore, were convened there by the New-York Historical Society to declare Sancte Claus the Patron Saint of Nieuw Amsterdam, New York City's previous name under Dutch rule.

Sancte Claus, today's Santa Claus, is the English version of the Dutch Christmas hero Sinter Claus or Saint Nicholas who helped young people in Asia Minor. These notables, including the poet of the famous early Christmas poem, 'A Visit From St. Nicholas,' assembled to create a more unified and peaceful way to celebrate Christmas in a rapidly growing and diverse town. In 1812 the old New York City Hall, known as Federal Hall, was torn down for $400 worth of scrap. Part of the original railing and balcony floor where Washington was inaugurated are on display in the monument. Current structure In 1790, the United States capital was moved to Philadelphia and what had been Federal Hall once again housed New York City government until 1812, when the building was razed. The current structure, one of the best surviving examples of classical architecture in New York, was built as the country's first Customs House, opening in 1842, and later served as one of six United States Sub-Treasury locations and a Federal Reserve Bank.

Two prominent American ideals are reflected in the building's architecture: The Doric columns of the façade, designed by Ithiel Town and Alexander Jackson Davis, resemble those of the Parthenon and serve as a tribute to Greek democracy; the domed ceiling inside, designed by John Frazee, echoes the Pantheon and the economic might of the Romans. The current structure is often overshadowed among downtown landmarks by the New York Stock Exchange, which is located diagonally across Wall and Nassau Streets, but the site is one of the most important in the history of the United States and, particularly, the foundation of the United States Government and its democratic institutions. The current building is well-known for the bronze statue of George Washington on its front steps, marking the site where he was inaugurated as US President in the former structure. In 1920, a bomb was detonated across the street from Federal Hall at 23 Wall Street, in what became known as the Wall Street bombing. 38 people were killed and 400 injured, and 23 Wall was visibly damaged, but Federal Hall received no damage.

A famous photograph of the event shows the destruction and effects of the bombing, but also shows the statue of Washington standing stoically in the face of chaos. Federal Hall National Memorial The building was designated as Federal Hall Memorial National Historic Site on May 26, 1939, and redesignated a national memorial on August 11, 1955. As with all historic areas administered by the National Park Service, the memorial was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. The National Park Services operates Federal Hall as a museum. The museum closed on December 3, 2004 for extensive renovations and reopened in the fall of 2006. Normally its exhibit galleries are open free to the public daily, except national holidays, and guided tours of the site are offered throughout the day. Exhibits include: George Washington’s Inauguration Gallery - Including the Bible used to swear his oath of office. Freedom of the Press - The imprisonment and trial of John Peter Zenger. Journey to Federal Hall - An 8-minute video about the history of Federal Hall.

On September 6, 2002, approximately 300 members of the United States Congress traveled from Washington, D.C. to New York to convene in Federal Hall as a symbolic show of support for the City, still recovering from the September 11, 2001 attacks. Just four blocks from Ground Zero, the meeting was the first by Congress in New York since 1790. In 2006, Federal Hall opened after a brief closure and a $16 million renovation, mostly to its foundation, after cracks threatening the structure were greatly aggravated by the collapse of the World Trade Center Twin Towers. As a national monument, the site is open free to the public from 9-5 on week days. It has tourist information about the New York Harbor Area's Federal monuments and parks, and a New York City tourism information center. The gift shop has colonial and early American items for sale. Cultural references Federal Hall has appeared in several movies as well as Rage Against the Machine's music video for Sleep Now in the Fire featuring Michael Moore.

In the video game Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, the final scene of the game takes place at Federal Hall, after Arsenal Gear crashes through Manhattan and stops at Federal Hall, damaging the right side of the structure. References Israel - America - Isaiah & God's Judgment - A Nation Dedicated To God Israel - America - Isaiah & God's Judgment - A Nation Dedicated To God America like Israel is a nation dedicated to God. Do you know that our first president's first official act, along with Congress and Senate was to dedicate the brand new nation, the United States of America, to Jehovah God? America and Israel are the only two nations who at their beginnings, were and are dedicated to Jehovah God, our creator. This is an important fact to know and understand because a nation dedicated to God is held to a higher responsibility as opposed to nations that are not. Now it is true that there are nations who followed biblical standards and at times revival has taken place. For example England in the 1800s had a very strong revival which in turn made its way over to America and great preachers like Charles Grandison Finney, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Dwight Lyman Moody, Billy Sunday and many more preached the gospel.

That was the golden age of the American Revival. But do you know that our nation was also dedicated to God by a King? This took place in 1606 when King James of England stated in the Jamestown charter to the major investors in the Virginia Company that the spread the Gospel of the Almighty God will be first and foremost. Here is how the charter opened… Wee, greately commending and graciously accepting of theire desires to the furtherance of soe noble a worke which may, by the providence of Almightie God, hereafter tende to the glorie of His Divine Maiestie to suche people as yet live in darkeness and miserable ignorance of the true knoweledge and worshippe of God and may in tyme bring the infidels and salvages living in those parts to humane civilitie and to a setled and quiet governmente… Spreading the gospel was the first goal of the Jamestown settlers.

The second part of the 1606 charter is devoted to the rights of the investors to discover and profit from… “all the landes, woodes, soile, groundes, havens, portes, rivers, mines, minerals, marrishes, waters, fishinges, commodities and hereditamentes whatsoever” in Virginia. They were given instructions to “dig, myne, and searche for all manner of Mynes of Goulde Silver and Copper aswell within anie parte of theire saide severall Colonies.” So not only in our conception via the Jamestown settlers, but also when our nation officially stood on its own as a nation, we were dedicated to God. The only other country to be dedicated to God at it's beginnings was Israel. Even though Israel had two kings prior, it was not till the temple was built that the nation of Israel truly became a nation. It was under the reign of King Solomon who finally built God's temple, which was the symbol, the very heart of the nation.

We read in 2 Chronicles seven we the following… 2 Chronicles 7:11-22 - Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD, and the king's house: and all that came into Solomon's heart to make in the house of the LORD, and in his own house, he prosperously effected. 12 And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice. 13 If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; 14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 15 Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. 16 For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.

17 And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments; 18 Then will I stablish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel. 19 But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them; 20 Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations. 21 And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and unto this house?

22 And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them. There is a lot in these ten verses. 1 - God heard the prayer of the king and accepted the king's dedication of Israel to that of God. 2 - God will chastise, but has promised that His mercy will continue based on the actions of the nation. 3 - God promises to hear the prayers and will be attentive to a humble people and will dwell with them, blessing them and watching over them. 4 - God promises to the king that He will bless the King, His rule and the nation if the King maintains God's statutes, judgments. In other words, Keep God's Word. 5 - God also states that if the nations turns away from God to serve other gods, worship them, then He will pluck the nation up by its roots out of the land and will also cast His house out of His sight. This is just the tip of the iceberg too. There is a lot more here, but we can cover more later.

What we know is that God is not a respecter of persons, BUT he is a respecter of the office with which that person occupies. We clearly see that the actions of the king will reflect upon the nation. If the king worships other gods, God's chastisement will "roll down hill." It will be the nation that will feel His hand against them. 1 Peter 2:17b …Fear God. Honour the king. The office of the king is an office ordained by God and with it comes a huge amount of responsibility to God. But because the office is ordained by God, the king or the leader of a nation has in a sense "God's ear." We see this in case after case in scripture. When the King sought out God and repented, God heard the prayers of the king and forgave the nation. Jonah 3:6-10 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? 10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not. Because the King of Ninevah humbled himself before God and ordered the people to follow his example, God spared Ninevah from complete destruction. God is not a respecter of persons, but He does respect an office of responsibility which a person holds. The birthplace of Israel is upon the temple mount in Jerusalem, but do you know where the birthplace of our nation took place? It wasn't in Washington DC nor was it in Philadelphia in 1776.

Our nation was conceived in Philadelphia, but we did not become an official nation until April 30th, 1789. That was the day that George Washington was sworn in as America's first president. In fact there is a very famous statue marking the very spot where he was sworn in. He was inaugurated on the island of Manhattan, New York City, in front of the Federal Hall located on Wall Street. Wall Street is where our nation actually became a nation. Federal Hall was the then current home to the first Congress, Supreme Court, and Executive Branch offices. The building is still there and there is a statue of George Washington standing with his hand stretched out taking the oath of office. Why was his hand stretched out? His statue was portrayed that way so that people could see and remember that George Washington took the oath of office while resting his hand on God's Word. On this day things were planned out and seemed to be going smoothly, but as the parade was nearing Federal Hall carrying Washington in a horse drawn carriage, it was suddenly realized that a Bible had been needed for administering the oath. Why? Because it was written into the law and a bible was required to be part of the ceremony.

History shows that it was Parade Marshal Jacob Morton who hurried off and soon returned with a large 1767 King James Bible, and it was that bible with which Washington swore his oath of office. The same King James who's charter ordained this country to sharing the gospel also gave the English speaking people the only authorized bible in history, the King James Authorized Version of the Bible. So on April 30, 1789 our first president was sworn in at Federal Hall, our first seat of government located on Wall Street, Manhattan New York. On April 23, it was announced to the nation that at 9:00 AM the church bells across the nation will ring for a half hour, calling the entire nation come to their house of worship and to commit our new government to the Most High God. The Daily Advertiser reported the following… [O]n the morning of the day on which our illustrious President will be invested with his office, the bells will ring at nine o’clock, when the people may go up to the house of God and in a solemn manner commit the new government, with its important train of consequences, to the holy protection and blessing of the Most high.

An early hour is prudently fixed for this peculiar act of devotion and . . . is designed wholly for prayer. The Daily Advertiser, New York, Thursday, April 23, 1789, p. 2 After being sworn-in, George Washington delivered this nation's first “Inaugural Address” to a joint session of Congress. In it, Washington declared: "It would be peculiarly improper to omit, in this first official act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States." As the newly inaugurated President, George Washington's first act as President was to lead on foot, the Vice President and members of the Senate and House of Representatives, proceed to St. Paul’s Chapel. It was at St. Paul's Chapel that our nation was dedicated to God. Our newly founded Government joined our President, along with the rest of the nation, upon bent knee and in solemn prayer asked for God's favor and blessing upon this nation.

It was at that time that our nation was committed by our leader and the people to God Almighty. It is at that very moment that the ground with which our nation was dedicated, became hallowed ground. This ground was from that point on, became a special landmark to our nation and to God. Like the temple mount where Solomon dedicated Israel and her people to God, so did our first president. Following Solomon's example his first official act as our nation's leader was to dedicate our nation and her people to God. Saint Paul's Chapel and the land upon which it sat, is a kin to Israel's temple mount. The ground is hallowed to our nation. Saint Paul's Chapel The chapel of the Parish of Trinity Church, St. Paul's was built on land granted by Queen Anne of Great Britain. Land owned by one who holds an office, recognized and ordained by God. The land owned by the chapel was of good size. In fact it is recorded that The "Hearts of Oak", a militia unit organized early in the American Revolutionary War, and comprised in part of King's College (later, Columbia University) students, would drill in the Chapel's yard before classes. (1) Another fact about St.

Paul's that Washington regularly attended services at St. Paul's during the two years New York City was the country's capital. Remove Not The Ancient Landmarks In scripture we are told about "the ancient landmarks." In fact we are warned in Proverbs of the following… Proverbs 22:28 Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set. Over the years the land upon which our nation was dedicated to God, slowly became forgotten. Today, barely anyone except for a few history books, remember that the land which St. Paul's stands is the very same land which our nation and her people were dedicated to God. The ancient landmark was not moved, but something worse happened… it became forgotten. Many people have no idea what St. Paul' Chapel means to this nation. Her history, her meaning, her hallowed ground has been totally forgotten by most of the nation and her people. Israel Turns From God In 2 Chronicles 7 we read what will happen to Israel if she turned her back upon God.

20 Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations. 21 And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and unto this house? Because Israel turned to false gods and turned her back upon God, God did exactly as He said he would. He pulled the people up by the roots and destroyed the temple. The hallowed ground with which the temple was built was defiled and destroyed. God's hand of protection was lifted and the enemies of God came in and destroyed the very symbol of the nation, that being the temple, the heart of the nation. The people lamented and asked "Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land?" Again, just as God said it, the people wondered "WHY?" It is because the nation and her people who were dedicated to God, by their king, turned their backs upon Him.

So He destroyed the temple because they forgot the ancient landmarks and their promise to God once given on that hallowed ground from which she was dedicated. God began His judgment upon Israel on the very ground she was founded, the temple mount. Our Hallowed Ground Our nation has faced God's Judgment, just as Israel's hallowed ground was stricken. So has our hallowed ground been also stricken. Our hallowed ground with which St Paul's sits and where our nation was dedicated to God Almighty is none other than Ground Zero. The land that was once used to practice marching and military drill, was the same land with which the twin towers stood. Facing Ground Zero from St Paul's Chapel. Like Israel, God has judged our nation, a nation dedicated to God Almighty. Like Israel who was briefly invaded by Assyria, our nation has also been briefly invaded by the very same terrorist ancestors. Like Israel's hallowed ground being destroyed, our hallowed ground has also been destroyed. We have been warned, and God's hand of providence has been lifted. But on that day did we humble ourselves? No we did not. In fact, our leaders spoke a curse upon our nation right from the book of Isaiah.

Isaiah 9:10 The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars. This verse in the days and months after our nation's downfall will be repeated over and over again by our elected officials. This verse is the very attitude that Israel took after Assyria invaded the land. Instead of humbling themselves and repenting as God told them to do in 2 Chronicles 7:14, they became hardened and prideful. They became defiant in the face of God. God has been warning out nation. But instead of heeding His warning the people of our nation continue to be boastful, proud and defiant in the face of God. In my next article I will show how we have followed in the same steps as Israel, as well as show the signs of God's continued judgment upon our nation. By Ray Gano George Washington: First Inaugural Address. U.S. Inaugural Addresses.

1989 In the City of New York Thursday, April 30, 1789 The Nation's first chief executive took his oath of office in April in New York City on the balcony of the Senate Chamber at Federal Hall on Wall Street. General Washington had been unanimously elected President by the first electoral college, and John Adams was elected Vice President because he received the second greatest number of votes. Under the rules, each elector cast two votes. The Chancellor of New York and fellow Freemason, Robert R. Livingston administered the oath of office. The Bible on which the oath was sworn belonged to New York's St. John's Masonic Lodge. The new President gave his inaugural address before a joint session of the two Houses of Congress assembled inside the Senate Chamber. Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: AMONG the vicissitudes incident to life no event could have filled me with greater anxieties than that of which the notification was transmitted by your order, and received on the 14th day of the present month.

On the one hand, I was summoned by my country, whose voice I can never hear but with veneration and love, from a retreat which I had chosen with the fondest predilection, and, in my flattering hopes, with an immutable decision, as the asylum of my declining yearsa retreat which was rendered every day more necessary as well as more dear to me by the addition of habit to inclination, and of frequent interruptions in my health to the gradual waste committed on it by time. On the other hand, the magnitude and difficulty of the trust to which the voice of my country called me, being sufficient to awaken in the wisest and most experienced of her citizens a distrustful scrutiny into his qualifications, could not but overwhelm with despondence one who (inheriting inferior endowments from nature and unpracticed in the duties of civil administration) ought to be peculiarly conscious of his own deficiencies. In this conflict of emotions all I dare aver is that it has been my faithful study to collect my duty from a just appreciation of every circumstance by which it might be affected.

All I dare hope is that if, in executing this task, I have been too much swayed by a grateful remembrance of former instances, or by an affectionate sensibility to this transcendent proof of the confidence of my fellow-citizens, and have thence too little consulted my incapacity as well as disinclination for the weighty and untried cares before me, my error will be palliated by the motives which mislead me, and its consequences be judged by my country with some share of the partiality in which they originated. 1 Such being the impressions under which I have, in obedience to the public summons, repaired to the present station, it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success the functions allotted to his charge.

In tendering this homage to the Great Author of every public and private good, I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own, nor those of my fellow-citizens at large less than either. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency; and in the important revolution just accomplished in the system of their united government the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities from which the event has resulted can not be compared with the means by which most governments have been established without some return of pious gratitude, along with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seem to presage. These reflections, arising out of the present crisis, have forced themselves too strongly on my mind to be suppressed. You will join with me, I trust, in thinking that there are none under the influence of which the proceedings of a new and free government can more auspiciously commence.

2 By the article establishing the executive department it is made the duty of the President "to recommend to your consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient." The circumstances under which I now meet you will acquit me from entering into that subject further than to refer to the great constitutional charter under which you are assembled, and which, in defining your powers, designates the objects to which your attention is to be given. It will be more consistent with those circumstances, and far more congenial with the feelings which actuate me, to substitute, in place of a recommendation of particular measures, the tribute that is due to the talents, the rectitude, and the patriotism which adorn the characters selected to devise and adopt them.

In these honorable qualifications I behold the surest pledges that as on one side no local prejudices or attachments, no separate views nor party animosities, will misdirect the comprehensive and equal eye which ought to watch over this great assemblage of communities and interests, so, on another, that the foundation of our national policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality, and the preeminence of free government be exemplified by all the attributes which can win the affections of its citizens and command the respect of the world.

I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction which an ardent love for my country can inspire, since there is no truth more thoroughly established than that there exists in the economy and course of nature an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness; between duty and advantage; between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity; since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained; and since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people. 3 Besides the ordinary objects submitted to your care, it will remain with your judgment to decide how far an exercise of the occasional power delegated by the fifth article of the Constitution is rendered expedient at the present juncture by the nature of objections which have been urged against the system, or by the degree of inquietude which has given birth to them.

Instead of undertaking particular recommendations on this subject, in which I could be guided by no lights derived from official opportunities, I shall again give way to my entire confidence in your discernment and pursuit of the public good; for I assure myself that whilst you carefully avoid every alteration which might endanger the benefits of an united and effective government, or which ought to await the future lessons of experience, a reverence for the characteristic rights of freemen and a regard for the public harmony will sufficiently influence your deliberations on the question how far the former can be impregnably fortified or the latter be safely and advantageously promoted. 4 To the foregoing observations I have one to add, which will be most properly addressed to the House of Representatives. It concerns myself, and will therefore be as brief as possible. When I was first honored with a call into the service of my country, then on the eve of an arduous struggle for its liberties, the light in which I contemplated my duty required that I should renounce every pecuniary compensation.

From this resolution I have in no instance departed; and being still under the impressions which produced it, I must decline as inapplicable to myself any share in the personal emoluments which may be indispensably included in a permanent provision for the executive department, and must accordingly pray that the pecuniary estimates for the station in which I am placed may during my continuance in it be limited to such actual expenditures as the public good may be thought to require. 5 Having thus imparted to you my sentiments as they have been awakened by the occasion which brings us together, I shall take my present leave; but not without resorting once more to the benign Parent of the Human Race in humble supplication that, since He has been pleased to favor the American people with opportunities for deliberating in perfect tranquillity, and dispositions for deciding with unparalleled unanimity on a form of government for the security of their union and the advancement of their happiness, so His divine blessing may be equally conspicuous in the enlarged views, the temperate consultations, and the wise measures on which the success of this Government must depend.

Question: April 30 saw George Washington sworn in as the very first US President on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York. What year was his inauguration?
Answer: 1789