MARCH 7

On This Day IN HISTORY MARCH 71789 , Government Begins Under Our Constitution It was on this day in 1789 that the federal government started to operate under the terms of the U.S. Constitution, as the Confederation Congress ceded power. However, there was a major problem with the first session of the new Congress: not enough members showed up. The 3rd Congress started meeting on December 1st, but March 4th was reserved for a special role in every Congress. It was picked as the last day of its two-year session. (The Constitution didn’t mandate an ending date for a Congress.)