York became the temporary seat of the Continental Congress after British forces captured Philadelphia in September 1777. Delegates first moved west to Lancaster and then crossed the Susquehanna to York, where the provincial courthouse offered a place to conduct national business beyond immediate British reach. Congress met there from September 30, 1777, until late June 1778, while the Continental Army endured the Philadelphia campaign and wintered at Valley Forge.

The courthouse housed debates that helped define the political structure and international position of the United States. On November 15, 1777, Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation and sent them to the states for ratification. The Articles described a union of sovereign states and created a national framework for war, diplomacy, and finance. Although they did not take effect until all thirteen states ratified them, their adoption at York was a major step in transforming revolution into an enduring confederation.

Congress also received and approved the agreements that brought France openly into the war. American and French representatives signed treaties in Paris on February 6, 1778; news and official documents then crossed the Atlantic. Congress ratified the alliance in York in May. French military and naval support changed the strategic balance by forcing Britain to consider threats in multiple theaters. The alliance eventually proved essential at Yorktown, where French sea power and troops helped trap Cornwallis’s army.

Daily work in the courthouse extended beyond famous votes. Delegates addressed military appointments, supply shortages, prisoners, finance, correspondence, and relations among the states. Their presence affected the town’s lodging, commerce, security, and public life. York was therefore not merely a symbolic “capital.” It functioned as a wartime center of civil administration during one of the Revolution’s bleakest periods, when the national government had no permanent home and relied on local buildings and resources.

The original courthouse that stood in the center of the square was later demolished, and the marker identifies its former setting. A reconstructed courthouse nearby helps interpret the period, but it should not be mistaken for the surviving 1777 building. The site’s importance lies in the decisions made there: adoption of the Articles, ratification of the French alliance, and continuous governance despite enemy occupation of Philadelphia. York demonstrates how political institutions remained mobile yet operational during the struggle for independence.

The York session also warns against judging wartime government only by later constitutional standards. Congress had limited coercive power and depended heavily on the states, yet it maintained diplomacy and the army during crisis. The courthouse represents both the weaknesses of that arrangement and the remarkable continuity it achieved.