AHC: New York or Philadelphia as capital of the US

IOTL, the area that is now Washington DC was chosen because the Southern states demanded a southern capital in exchange for allowing the federal government to assume all of the state debts. If it hadn't been for this demand, the capital would have likely been located in either NYC (where the federal government already was in 1790) or in Philadelphia.

The challenge is this: Is there another way to appease the Southern states while keeping the capital in a more "natural" location (either Philly or NYC)?

If the compromise between Hamilton and Jefferson/Madison fails, that means that the federal assumption of state debt will not take place. And as esoteric as that sounds, it's a massive POD that will completely change American history.

Anaxagoras said:

If the compromise between Hamilton and Jefferson/Madison fails, that means that the federal assumption of state debt will not take place. And as esoteric as that sounds, it's a massive POD that will completely change American history.

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Right, which is why I'm trying to find out if there was another way to convince the south to allow the federal assumption of state debt.

CthulhuFhtagn said:

Right, which is why I'm trying to find out if there was another way to convince the south to allow the federal assumption of state debt.

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None that I can think of. Protections for slavery won't matter, since slavery was not yet a major national issue. Moreover, the leaders of the South in this era, Jefferson and Hamilton among them, were of the slavery-is-a-necessary-evil-we-should-eventually-get-rid-of variety. The Calhounesque slavery-is-a-positive-good folks didn't really come along until the 1820s and 30s.

Anaxagoras said:

None that I can think of. Protections for slavery won't matter, since slavery was not yet a major national issue. Moreover, the leaders of the South in this era, Jefferson and Hamilton among them, were of the slavery-is-a-necessary-evil-we-should-eventually-get-rid-of variety. The Calhounesque slavery-is-a-positive-good folks didn't really come along until the 1820s and 30s.

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What? Erm, no offense, but Alexander Hamilton wasn't ever a Southerner. Like, at all. Not in birth, residence (D.C. abuts the South, it's not part of it), political outlook, religious background or personal conviction. Liam Neeson would make a more convincing son of Dixie.

Anyway, you do make a good point about Calhounism not being a strong force till the 1830s (1837 being the main tipping point IMO). One possible way for the capital to be moved further north is for OTL Canada, in part or whole, to join the 13 Colonies in independence. Not only does that reduce the financial burden of paying for the war, it also "raises the bar" as to where the median of the country lies in terms of North vs South.