August 10, 2023 • 32 mins
How did Washington, D.C. become our capitol? We hear all about it with an expert from the United States Capitol Historical Society!
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Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
This is the FCB podcast Network.They're great US Solved, the Jeremy who
stand Everything and they thought so wewere America. Hello and welcome back to
(00:28):
the growing patriot podcast, American Historyfor Kids. I'm your host, Amelia
Hamilton. In the last episode,we heard about George Washington being inaugurated being
made president in New York City,but we know that now the capital of
the United States is in Washington,DC. In this episode, we're going
to find out how it got movedthere, when, why, and even
(00:52):
the story of a sneaky cow.Well, thank you, Amelia, it's
good to be on this fun podcast. My name is Jane Campbell and I
am right now the President and CEOof the United States Capital Historical Society.
(01:14):
We are a nonprofit organization chartered byCongress to tell the story of the Capitol
the people who work there in mannerthat inspires informed patriotism. So your podcast
is perfect for our worksolutely, I'mso excited to have you on today.
In the last episode, we talkedabout George Washington's inauguration and of course that
(01:38):
was up in New York at FederalHall, so I thought this was a
natural next episode to find out howdid the capitol come to be in DC?
Well, you know, the capitolcame to Washington, DC as a
result of a political compromise. Canyou imagine people who didn't agree sat and
(01:59):
try to negotiate. Now, ofcourse, the story is been mostly told
by Thomas Jefferson, who maintains thathe was the one that negotiated the compromise
between Hamilton and Madison at a dinner. And we weren't at the dinner,
(02:20):
and the only report we have isof Jefferson's. But we know what happened
and what the situation was. Ifyou think about it. At the time
this country was founded, we hadnever had representative democracy in the world.
I mean, it was a brandnew concept. Nobody knew what this was
(02:40):
about, and so we were makingit up as we went along. And
the United States Constitution granted to theCongress the power to determine the location of
America's capitol. But it was avery fervent debate. Folks in the South
really wanted a capital that was betweenMayor Earland in Virginia so that they could
(03:02):
be sure that they could monitor theeconomic hub of the United States government.
Northerners, meanwhile, were very worriedthat putting the capital there between two slave
states who would in effect guarantee thatslavery would be part of our country forever.
(03:23):
At the same time, the stateswere struggling that they owed debt that
they had incurred in the Revolutionary War, and the Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton,
who was a Northern Federalist that waswhat the party was called them, proposed
that the United States government assumed state'sdebts as a way to establish legitimacy with
(03:50):
the citizens to build credit for thisbrand new country. But the southern states
were not so happy about that becausesome of them had paid off their war
debt. So this was a bigdrama, and it actually converged at this
dinner party in the room where ithappened, so they said, and what
(04:13):
they agreed was a historic compromise whereMadison agreed that he would not prevent the
votes needed for Hamilton's financial plan.Virginia would owe one point five million less
in tax obligations, and Hamilton wouldsupport a capital along the Potonac but became
(04:33):
Washington, DC. And many yearslater Jefferson, in a bit of a
self congratulate that I thought it impossiblethat reasonable men, of course, it
was all men then consulting together coolly, could fail, by some mutual sacrifices
(04:54):
of opinion, to form a compromise, which was to save the union.
That is wonderful, And we've talkedabout compromise an awful lot. We've been
going through the Constitution, even theDeclaration of Independence, and nobody ever got
exactly what they wanted, but youcame up with something that worked. So
this land at the time, howdid it get its name? Well,
(05:16):
the name is an interesting story,and it really tells the story about how
we use naming as a way tohonor people who really made significant contributions.
And in September ninth, seventeen ninetyone, the nation's capital was named after
(05:36):
President George Washington. Before that ithad been referred to as Federal City.
It became the permanent home of thecapital in eighteen hundred, just months after
George Washington had died. The citycommissioners had also popular popularized the federal district
(06:00):
Columbia, which is the feminine ofColumbus, which, as you remembers,
one of the explorers who found theNew World. And so that's how it
became the District of Columbia Washington DC. All right, so does there's the
fact that it's called the District ofColumbia. Is that part of what makes
(06:21):
it it's different from any other,you know state, right, District of
Columbia. The founder said it didn'twant the seceat of government to be a
state because there was all this questionbetween the states rights and the states where
this and this and this, thatit should just be the place where government
(06:43):
functioned. Therefore, they created theDistrict of Columbia. Now, of course,
now there's all this drama about,you know, should it be a
state, and because more people livehere. But at the time there were
really the District of Columbia was notvery well developed. Although the Capitol building,
(07:08):
the placement of the Capitol Building hasgot a great story because George Washington,
who was still alive when they decidedwhere the capitol would be. You
know, it's called Capitol Hill.That's because it's higher than the other parts
of the District of Columbia. Andhe came with a guy named Lafont,
(07:30):
who was a French guy who lovedthe beauty of Paris, and he came
and he envisioned that the Washington,DC would be a grand city. It
was not at the time. Itwas literally British soldiers who had served here
during the Revolutionary War got extra paybecause they were serving in a swamp.
(07:51):
But he and George Washington designated CapitolHill as a plateau awaiting a monument.
Monument is the United States Capital?Wow? And when when was that?
When was the Capitol actually the actualcapital building belt The cornerstone was laid on
(08:11):
September eighteenth, seventeen ninety three,but that didn't mean the building opened right
away. It took a while foreverybody to get ready to do it.
And remember that time, we didn'thave like architects, you know, which
is a profession now where people designedbuildings and they know how to do it.
(08:37):
So they had like an open competitionand asked people to send in what
did they think it should look like. And it was kind of a you
know, open situation. And theguy who sent in the design that was
chosen was a medical doctor. Youimagine they had an idea. Jefferson wanted
(09:03):
the Capitol somehow to mirror the modelsof antiquity, and in the end the
design that they approved sort of theyfelt was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome
for its grandeur, its simplicity,and its convenience. But the building was
(09:26):
actually completed. They moved in ineighteen hundred and in the same building was
Congress, the Supreme Court, andthe Library of Congress. They were all
in there together in one wing,and then they built a second wing in
eighteen oh seven. But in eighteenfourteen, during the War of eighteen twelve,
(09:52):
the British came in and burned thecapitol down, so what we now
know as the Dome, you know, it was burned and so they had
to rebuild it, which they did. And if you think about the capital
has changed as the country has changed. During the Civil War, can you
(10:18):
imagine, the country was at war, chaos was reigning, finances were a
mass. The historic dome had beenhad wooden columns. Oh and in order
to build one as they had expanded, the country had expanded, so they
(10:41):
had to have more spaces for themembers. There were more senators because there
were more states. There were moremembers of the Houses of Representatives because there
were more people. So they expandedthe House and Senate wing, which was
what we think of them now,and then the dome. It looked too
small. Plus it was following thatwas a problem. So they did a
(11:03):
brand new renovation and that was whenthey did cast iron, because cast iron
is actually stronger and lighter than whatcan you imagine? Wow, not something
we instinctively know of. Yeah,that building was worked on during the run
(11:28):
up to the Civil War and AbrahamLincoln. During the Civil War what we
know of as the Rotunda. Now, that glorious space with those amazing port
pictures, which I'm happy to tellyou about, was a hospital. Wow,
it's a hospital for Union soldiers.So there's been a lot that's gone
(11:52):
on in the Capitol absolutely, Soyeah, I would love to hear a
little bit more about those pictures.Well, the pictures really depict our history
and they are some of the mostfamous pictures of American history. The signing
of the Declaration of Independence, thesurrender of Lord Cornwallis. But we believe
(12:16):
that the most important picture is thepicture of General George Washington resigning his commission.
Now why is that important? GeorgeWashington was the general of the Revolutionary
Army, you know, and theAmerica was brand new at that time.
We were just you know, anemerging country with a brand new idea that
(12:41):
we could be a country of whatLincoln the later called of the people,
by the people, and for thepeople. There was no such concept in
the world. It had not everbeen done. And George Washington was so
popular that he could have been theking, he could have had a complete
(13:05):
power, but he said that hebelieved that it was important under our system
that the military respond to civilian leadership. And so he had won the war,
he resigned his commission and he wentto Mount Learning. Wow, and
(13:31):
King George, who we had justbeaten over there, and Ah said,
if that really happened, George Washingtonis the most inspiring leader in the world.
And that's why we think that particularpainting set the stage for what we
call the American Experiment, which hasbeen tested over and over again and continues
(13:56):
to be tested as we you know, take those values that were put forth.
I mean, mind you you knowthe founding fathers, Yeah, they
were all fathers, They're all guys. Some of them thought that owning slaves
was appropriate, but they still setforth an idea of equality, an idea
(14:18):
of inclusion, and that has beenbuilt on to include women, to include
people of multidifferent colors, multidifferent races, and they set forth to form a
more perfect union, sort of insetting up that there will continue to be
(14:41):
movement. And the Capital Building isa fascinating building because on the one hand
it's a museum with these amazing youknow, statues and paintings. But on
the other hand, it's a workingoffice and it is the lace where people
(15:01):
come to petition their government. Andso, you know, you walk into
the Capitol now that we're done withCOVID, and you know all that kind
there are kids from schools, thereare people who are there to make their
plea for this or that, andwe've had all kinds of things come,
(15:24):
including a cow. Cow. Nowyou know, you don't think perhaps cows,
you know, have a big organization. But think about this. During
World War One, the price ofdairy products, milk, you know,
cheese, all that just skyrocket.And the farmers drop the price of milk
(15:48):
during the war, but still thedairy prices remain frustratingly high. And so
Congress created what they do, aJoint Commission on Agricultural Inquiry, a committee
to look at this to figure outwho's responsible for these prices that are made.
Was so mad across the country,and so one exasperated congressman allegedly exclaimed
(16:15):
that the only way to avoid theinflated costs was to buy a cow.
And so, in nineteen twenty one, one protester surreptitiously snuck an actual cow
into the Cannon House office build whilethe Commission's investigation meeting was going on,
(16:37):
and a newspaper caption at the timereported that the cow, whose name was
Bossy, was in search of acongressional owner. And eventually they got the
cow out to the building's courtyard andthe cow happily she grazed and everybody looked
(16:57):
at it, spectators and to thisday the protester, who protester who planted
her remains unknown and really her ofCongress ever claimed her, Oh my goodness,
that story, you know, talkabout the creativity of Americans, as
(17:17):
from the petition our government. There'sa million times a million ways that people
have come and so I thought you'dbe interested in Oh my gosh, absolutely,
it's I can't imagine trying to sneaka cow anywhere. Well, and
you know, understanding funny, itwas a little different time, you know,
not many years before that President WilliamHoward Taft had a peck cow at
(17:45):
the White House and that peck itwas named Pauline, and she lived at
the White House from nineteen ten tonineteen thirteen. So you know, we've
seen a lot of dogs and catsat the White House, but but I
didn't know there was a cow.Well, now you have learned something I
(18:07):
know about this podcast that it's toofunny. I love it. So I
also want to ask you. You're, like you mentioned, this is a
place where people can petition the governmentand it's a working office, like you
said, so what happens in therenow because it doesn't have you know,
all of the like you said,used at the Supreme Court and all these
(18:30):
other functions. What happens in therenow? Well, now you have the
in the center, you have theCapital Dome, which you can picture.
You can see the dome is ourlogo. In the capital itself, there
is the Senate Chamber and the HouseChamber, which is where they come to
(18:51):
deliberate, and there are some officesfor the leadership that are in the Capitol
itself. They are also is nowwhat we call the Capital Complex, which
includes three buildings for congressional offices,for each chamber. So there are three
(19:11):
House buildings and three Senate buildings wherethe members of Congress have their offices and
their staff, and they do anumber of meetings with constituents and such there.
But when they come to deliberate together, they come into the Capitol to
the Senate and House Chamber the rotunda, which is what you often see on
(19:32):
television when there is a dignitary whodies president then at that time the president
would lay in state and his body. So far it's only been him.
We're waiting for the her, youknow, and people come by to pay
their respects that and that's where theDeclaration of Independence picture and the surrendering,
(20:02):
the surrendering the Commission picture is.There's also just outside of the House Chamber
is the former House Chamber when itwas smaller, which is now called National
Statuary Hall, and that hosts anumber of statues that each state is entitled
(20:23):
to send two statues to the Capitol, and those statues are to be of
two individuals who are distinguished in thestate. The state chooses them. The
only requirement is that they have tobe dead, and the statues have to
be marble or bronze and again,like I said with the Capital itself,
(20:45):
the statues change over time as people'sperspective about you know, what is important.
Some of the Southern states are inthe process of their statue are Confederate
generals, and those folks are movingback to this, back to the original
(21:07):
state and being replaced by people likeJohnny Cash, so a whole different.
Mary mclaude Bethune from Florida just camein first African American in National Statuary Hall
collection and she replaced a Confederate general. I love it. Yeah, Actually,
my next question was going to beabout Statuary Hall, so I'm glad
(21:30):
you brought that up. It's it'ssuch a little slice of America, you
know, a little like you said, it reflects the different values and you
know, feelings of each state andit's it's so neat to see them all
together like that. Well, andit's fascinating it And just like I talked
about, the Capitol itself had tobe expanded. The statuary collection is now
(21:56):
in a variety of places around thecapital, including the relatively new Capitol Visitor
Center. Because National Statuary Hall therewere so many states and so many statues,
they were concerned that the floor wouldfall in. Oh goodness, that
would not be good. You hadrows, and so nobody wanted to be
(22:18):
in the back row. Yeah.So now there are the statues are are
more dispersed summer in the crypt,which is the crypt is just underneath National
Statuary Hall. And the crypt isinteresting because there is a star in the
crypt, which is the geographic centerof Washington, DC. Wow, there
(22:41):
is an empty tomb there. Itwas built for to have George Washington's remains
there but the capitol and finished tilltwenty five years died and so his family
was like, uh, he's totallyfine in Non Vernon, where I suspect
you might have preferred Mount Vernon anyway, Well that's what they say. So
(23:04):
there is there literally is an emptytomb that there's no one, no one
there. But in the crypt arestatues from each of the thirteen original colonies.
Oh wow, Yeah, that's verycool. I love that. Like
you said, it's a museum aswell as you know, working office building,
and it really just reflects how ourcountry has grown and changed over a
(23:29):
couple of centuries and continues too,you know, continues to grow, continues
to change, continues to evolve,you know, it's it's fun to watch
there. In both the crypt andin Statuary Hall and in the rotunda there
are velvet ropes, you know,like you would see at a theater or
(23:49):
someplace, so that there's a placefor the members and staff to walk through,
so that the tour the tourists haveto you know, allow for a
space so they're not sort of continuallyExcuse me, I'm trying repeating. Yes,
yes, And I have had theprivilege of being on the little metro
(24:10):
station underneath too, which is whichis pretty fun. Yes, the the
subways that connect the buildings and soyeah, they're pretty fun. There are
lots of fun. They're lots Wait, so if kids were to come visit
the Capitol, which I hope everybodyhas the opportunity to do, what are
some of your favorite things that theyshould be sure to see? Well,
(24:34):
I think that one of the mostfavorite things is to come and to the
rotunda and see those amazing paintings,I mean, and then to turn your
head and look up at the skyand you'll see the Apotheosis of Washington,
which is depiction by Constantino Beauty,who was, as we say, an
(25:03):
American by choice. He was anItalian immigrant, and he painted the Washington
as if he had ascended into heaven, with each of the you know,
state a representative of each of theoriginal colonies. And it is pretty amazing
(25:26):
to look at. And then there'sa freeze around it that is the freeze
of American history. And Bermdi himselfdied while while while doing it, and
it was finished then by another artist, and it is such an amazing depiction
(25:47):
that it looks three dimensional, butit's actually it's actually not three dimensional.
So that's a pretty magical place.Statue a hall's a magical place. And
if you think, the other thingyou get to see is the old Supreme
Court chamber, and it is youlook at it is very small and you
(26:08):
think about the consequential decisions that weremade in that small chamber, and it
really gives you a sense of history. Now, the Supreme Court has its
own building, you know, whichis across the street from the Capitol,
but it was, you know,very very small facility. And I think
(26:34):
it's important for people to recognize thejust the fact that these are we elect
our leaders and they meet together ina very hands on way. You can
also walk by when you're in thecrypt and see where you would walk down
(26:56):
the stairs if you were going outto your inauguration to be elected president.
Wow, that's pretty cool. Myfavorite thing outside the Capitol is on the
atop of the Capitol is the Statueof Freedom. Now, the story of
the Statue of Freedom is a greatstory. It is a bronze statue.
(27:18):
It is thirty two feet high,but since it's four hundred feet up in
the air, what's pretty small.And it was put on when at the
end of the Civil War. Youknow, I told you that Lincoln was
rebuilding the Capitol even during the CivilWar. He never gave up. He
(27:40):
wanted it to be a symbol ofthe unity of our country. And there
was a lot of debate about whosestatue he should go up at the top.
You know, some people said,oh, it should be George Washington,
and then other people said, we'vehad enough of George Washington. We
need to, you know, haveit be what is unique about America.
What's unique about Americas that are werededicated to freedom? And so the Statue
(28:04):
of Freedom is a symbolic it's nota human person, it's a you know,
And so there was a lot ofdiscussion about how to do that and
to what to put in and itwas cast in bronze, but it was
(28:25):
developed overseas in Italy where the bestsculptors were and sent across in pieces and
then had to be the reassembled andthen cast in bronze here in Bladensburg,
Maryland, outside of outside of DC. And the person William Crawford who was
(28:48):
doing it had one of his enslavedpeople, Philip Reid, who was the
best at doing this working and he, Philip Reed, worked on the Statue
of Freedom as an enslaved person.During the time that he was working on
the Statue of Freedom, President Lincolnissued the freedom for all of the enslaved
(29:17):
people in Washington, DC, andso Philip Reed, for the last seven
months of working on the Statue ofFreedom was paid as a free person.
I have goosebumps. Yeah, thatis such a wonderful story and it encapsulates
so much about the American spirit.It does. That's why you know when
(29:44):
you look up and see it,it is really something else. Well,
thank you for sharing it with ustoday and thank you for being here today.
This was a great background on howthe capital came to be where it
is, you know, and whywhy it's so important and something I think
everyone should visit an experience. Absolutely, it is important that our children understand
(30:07):
the values of our country. Yeah, those values don't mean that we're always
going to agree, but it meanswe're going to care about this country surviving
and showing the way to freedom andinclusion and equality, and that sometimes we
say, the Capital is where wecome to argue, you know, where
(30:30):
we come to debate how to getstuff done. At the end of the
day, we find a way tocompromise. We do, and that's why
the American Experiments indoors exactly and willcontinue. Well, thank you so much
for joining us today. This wasjust a wonderful episode. Thank you,
(30:51):
Amelia, thanks for having me,Thank you for listening. I love to
visit historical buildings and really all historicalplaces. They don't just tell the story
of the time that they were built, but the story of from then until
now, and the Capital is agreat example of that. As Jane told
(31:15):
us, it goes from Thomas Jeffersonputting together a compromise just to pick the
location, to George Washington, theWar of eighteen twelve, the Civil War,
you know things moving and changing.The building has different jobs, it
represents different people, has different art. It's just a really great story of
America. I have had the opportunityto visit and take a tour and it
(31:38):
is just special to be there,and I hope that everyone can have that
opportunity. But if you can't getthere right now, you can visit the
United States Capitol Historical Society at CapitalHistory dot org and there are so many
cool videos and other resources that cangive you a great introduction and show you
around. I hope that you visit, and I hope you love it.
(32:00):
Until next time. You can findus at Growing Patriots dot com and at
Growing Patriots on Instagram, Facebook,and Twitter. See you next time.
They create us Soldiery Standing, andthey thought so we would be America Bandage.
(32:28):
This has been a presentation of theFCB podcast Network, where real talk
lifts. Visit us online at FCBPodcasts dot com.
This is the FCB podcast Network.They're great US Solved, the Jeremy who
stand Everything and they thought so wewere America. Hello and welcome back to
(00:28):
the growing patriot podcast, American Historyfor Kids. I'm your host, Amelia
Hamilton. In the last episode,we heard about George Washington being inaugurated being
made president in New York City,but we know that now the capital of
the United States is in Washington,DC. In this episode, we're going
to find out how it got movedthere, when, why, and even
(00:52):
the story of a sneaky cow.Well, thank you, Amelia, it's
good to be on this fun podcast. My name is Jane Campbell and I
am right now the President and CEOof the United States Capital Historical Society.
(01:14):
We are a nonprofit organization chartered byCongress to tell the story of the Capitol
the people who work there in mannerthat inspires informed patriotism. So your podcast
is perfect for our worksolutely, I'mso excited to have you on today.
In the last episode, we talkedabout George Washington's inauguration and of course that
(01:38):
was up in New York at FederalHall, so I thought this was a
natural next episode to find out howdid the capitol come to be in DC?
Well, you know, the capitolcame to Washington, DC as a
result of a political compromise. Canyou imagine people who didn't agree sat and
(01:59):
try to negotiate. Now, ofcourse, the story is been mostly told
by Thomas Jefferson, who maintains thathe was the one that negotiated the compromise
between Hamilton and Madison at a dinner. And we weren't at the dinner,
(02:20):
and the only report we have isof Jefferson's. But we know what happened
and what the situation was. Ifyou think about it. At the time
this country was founded, we hadnever had representative democracy in the world.
I mean, it was a brandnew concept. Nobody knew what this was
(02:40):
about, and so we were makingit up as we went along. And
the United States Constitution granted to theCongress the power to determine the location of
America's capitol. But it was avery fervent debate. Folks in the South
really wanted a capital that was betweenMayor Earland in Virginia so that they could
(03:02):
be sure that they could monitor theeconomic hub of the United States government.
Northerners, meanwhile, were very worriedthat putting the capital there between two slave
states who would in effect guarantee thatslavery would be part of our country forever.
(03:23):
At the same time, the stateswere struggling that they owed debt that
they had incurred in the Revolutionary War, and the Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton,
who was a Northern Federalist that waswhat the party was called them, proposed
that the United States government assumed state'sdebts as a way to establish legitimacy with
(03:50):
the citizens to build credit for thisbrand new country. But the southern states
were not so happy about that becausesome of them had paid off their war
debt. So this was a bigdrama, and it actually converged at this
dinner party in the room where ithappened, so they said, and what
(04:13):
they agreed was a historic compromise whereMadison agreed that he would not prevent the
votes needed for Hamilton's financial plan.Virginia would owe one point five million less
in tax obligations, and Hamilton wouldsupport a capital along the Potonac but became
(04:33):
Washington, DC. And many yearslater Jefferson, in a bit of a
self congratulate that I thought it impossiblethat reasonable men, of course, it
was all men then consulting together coolly, could fail, by some mutual sacrifices
(04:54):
of opinion, to form a compromise, which was to save the union.
That is wonderful, And we've talkedabout compromise an awful lot. We've been
going through the Constitution, even theDeclaration of Independence, and nobody ever got
exactly what they wanted, but youcame up with something that worked. So
this land at the time, howdid it get its name? Well,
(05:16):
the name is an interesting story,and it really tells the story about how
we use naming as a way tohonor people who really made significant contributions.
And in September ninth, seventeen ninetyone, the nation's capital was named after
(05:36):
President George Washington. Before that ithad been referred to as Federal City.
It became the permanent home of thecapital in eighteen hundred, just months after
George Washington had died. The citycommissioners had also popular popularized the federal district
(06:00):
Columbia, which is the feminine ofColumbus, which, as you remembers,
one of the explorers who found theNew World. And so that's how it
became the District of Columbia Washington DC. All right, so does there's the
fact that it's called the District ofColumbia. Is that part of what makes
(06:21):
it it's different from any other,you know state, right, District of
Columbia. The founder said it didn'twant the seceat of government to be a
state because there was all this questionbetween the states rights and the states where
this and this and this, thatit should just be the place where government
(06:43):
functioned. Therefore, they created theDistrict of Columbia. Now, of course,
now there's all this drama about,you know, should it be a
state, and because more people livehere. But at the time there were
really the District of Columbia was notvery well developed. Although the Capitol building,
(07:08):
the placement of the Capitol Building hasgot a great story because George Washington,
who was still alive when they decidedwhere the capitol would be. You
know, it's called Capitol Hill.That's because it's higher than the other parts
of the District of Columbia. Andhe came with a guy named Lafont,
(07:30):
who was a French guy who lovedthe beauty of Paris, and he came
and he envisioned that the Washington,DC would be a grand city. It
was not at the time. Itwas literally British soldiers who had served here
during the Revolutionary War got extra paybecause they were serving in a swamp.
(07:51):
But he and George Washington designated CapitolHill as a plateau awaiting a monument.
Monument is the United States Capital?Wow? And when when was that?
When was the Capitol actually the actualcapital building belt The cornerstone was laid on
(08:11):
September eighteenth, seventeen ninety three,but that didn't mean the building opened right
away. It took a while foreverybody to get ready to do it.
And remember that time, we didn'thave like architects, you know, which
is a profession now where people designedbuildings and they know how to do it.
(08:37):
So they had like an open competitionand asked people to send in what
did they think it should look like. And it was kind of a you
know, open situation. And theguy who sent in the design that was
chosen was a medical doctor. Youimagine they had an idea. Jefferson wanted
(09:03):
the Capitol somehow to mirror the modelsof antiquity, and in the end the
design that they approved sort of theyfelt was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome
for its grandeur, its simplicity,and its convenience. But the building was
(09:26):
actually completed. They moved in ineighteen hundred and in the same building was
Congress, the Supreme Court, andthe Library of Congress. They were all
in there together in one wing,and then they built a second wing in
eighteen oh seven. But in eighteenfourteen, during the War of eighteen twelve,
(09:52):
the British came in and burned thecapitol down, so what we now
know as the Dome, you know, it was burned and so they had
to rebuild it, which they did. And if you think about the capital
has changed as the country has changed. During the Civil War, can you
(10:18):
imagine, the country was at war, chaos was reigning, finances were a
mass. The historic dome had beenhad wooden columns. Oh and in order
to build one as they had expanded, the country had expanded, so they
(10:41):
had to have more spaces for themembers. There were more senators because there
were more states. There were moremembers of the Houses of Representatives because there
were more people. So they expandedthe House and Senate wing, which was
what we think of them now,and then the dome. It looked too
small. Plus it was following thatwas a problem. So they did a
(11:03):
brand new renovation and that was whenthey did cast iron, because cast iron
is actually stronger and lighter than whatcan you imagine? Wow, not something
we instinctively know of. Yeah,that building was worked on during the run
(11:28):
up to the Civil War and AbrahamLincoln. During the Civil War what we
know of as the Rotunda. Now, that glorious space with those amazing port
pictures, which I'm happy to tellyou about, was a hospital. Wow,
it's a hospital for Union soldiers.So there's been a lot that's gone
(11:52):
on in the Capitol absolutely, Soyeah, I would love to hear a
little bit more about those pictures.Well, the pictures really depict our history
and they are some of the mostfamous pictures of American history. The signing
of the Declaration of Independence, thesurrender of Lord Cornwallis. But we believe
(12:16):
that the most important picture is thepicture of General George Washington resigning his commission.
Now why is that important? GeorgeWashington was the general of the Revolutionary
Army, you know, and theAmerica was brand new at that time.
We were just you know, anemerging country with a brand new idea that
(12:41):
we could be a country of whatLincoln the later called of the people,
by the people, and for thepeople. There was no such concept in
the world. It had not everbeen done. And George Washington was so
popular that he could have been theking, he could have had a complete
(13:05):
power, but he said that hebelieved that it was important under our system
that the military respond to civilian leadership. And so he had won the war,
he resigned his commission and he wentto Mount Learning. Wow, and
(13:31):
King George, who we had justbeaten over there, and Ah said,
if that really happened, George Washingtonis the most inspiring leader in the world.
And that's why we think that particularpainting set the stage for what we
call the American Experiment, which hasbeen tested over and over again and continues
(13:56):
to be tested as we you know, take those values that were put forth.
I mean, mind you you knowthe founding fathers, Yeah, they
were all fathers, They're all guys. Some of them thought that owning slaves
was appropriate, but they still setforth an idea of equality, an idea
(14:18):
of inclusion, and that has beenbuilt on to include women, to include
people of multidifferent colors, multidifferent races, and they set forth to form a
more perfect union, sort of insetting up that there will continue to be
(14:41):
movement. And the Capital Building isa fascinating building because on the one hand
it's a museum with these amazing youknow, statues and paintings. But on
the other hand, it's a workingoffice and it is the lace where people
(15:01):
come to petition their government. Andso, you know, you walk into
the Capitol now that we're done withCOVID, and you know all that kind
there are kids from schools, thereare people who are there to make their
plea for this or that, andwe've had all kinds of things come,
(15:24):
including a cow. Cow. Nowyou know, you don't think perhaps cows,
you know, have a big organization. But think about this. During
World War One, the price ofdairy products, milk, you know,
cheese, all that just skyrocket.And the farmers drop the price of milk
(15:48):
during the war, but still thedairy prices remain frustratingly high. And so
Congress created what they do, aJoint Commission on Agricultural Inquiry, a committee
to look at this to figure outwho's responsible for these prices that are made.
Was so mad across the country,and so one exasperated congressman allegedly exclaimed
(16:15):
that the only way to avoid theinflated costs was to buy a cow.
And so, in nineteen twenty one, one protester surreptitiously snuck an actual cow
into the Cannon House office build whilethe Commission's investigation meeting was going on,
(16:37):
and a newspaper caption at the timereported that the cow, whose name was
Bossy, was in search of acongressional owner. And eventually they got the
cow out to the building's courtyard andthe cow happily she grazed and everybody looked
(16:57):
at it, spectators and to thisday the protester, who protester who planted
her remains unknown and really her ofCongress ever claimed her, Oh my goodness,
that story, you know, talkabout the creativity of Americans, as
(17:17):
from the petition our government. There'sa million times a million ways that people
have come and so I thought you'dbe interested in Oh my gosh, absolutely,
it's I can't imagine trying to sneaka cow anywhere. Well, and
you know, understanding funny, itwas a little different time, you know,
not many years before that President WilliamHoward Taft had a peck cow at
(17:45):
the White House and that peck itwas named Pauline, and she lived at
the White House from nineteen ten tonineteen thirteen. So you know, we've
seen a lot of dogs and catsat the White House, but but I
didn't know there was a cow.Well, now you have learned something I
(18:07):
know about this podcast that it's toofunny. I love it. So I
also want to ask you. You're, like you mentioned, this is a
place where people can petition the governmentand it's a working office, like you
said, so what happens in therenow because it doesn't have you know,
all of the like you said,used at the Supreme Court and all these
(18:30):
other functions. What happens in therenow? Well, now you have the
in the center, you have theCapital Dome, which you can picture.
You can see the dome is ourlogo. In the capital itself, there
is the Senate Chamber and the HouseChamber, which is where they come to
(18:51):
deliberate, and there are some officesfor the leadership that are in the Capitol
itself. They are also is nowwhat we call the Capital Complex, which
includes three buildings for congressional offices,for each chamber. So there are three
(19:11):
House buildings and three Senate buildings wherethe members of Congress have their offices and
their staff, and they do anumber of meetings with constituents and such there.
But when they come to deliberate together, they come into the Capitol to
the Senate and House Chamber the rotunda, which is what you often see on
(19:32):
television when there is a dignitary whodies president then at that time the president
would lay in state and his body. So far it's only been him.
We're waiting for the her, youknow, and people come by to pay
their respects that and that's where theDeclaration of Independence picture and the surrendering,
(20:02):
the surrendering the Commission picture is.There's also just outside of the House Chamber
is the former House Chamber when itwas smaller, which is now called National
Statuary Hall, and that hosts anumber of statues that each state is entitled
(20:23):
to send two statues to the Capitol, and those statues are to be of
two individuals who are distinguished in thestate. The state chooses them. The
only requirement is that they have tobe dead, and the statues have to
be marble or bronze and again,like I said with the Capital itself,
(20:45):
the statues change over time as people'sperspective about you know, what is important.
Some of the Southern states are inthe process of their statue are Confederate
generals, and those folks are movingback to this, back to the original
(21:07):
state and being replaced by people likeJohnny Cash, so a whole different.
Mary mclaude Bethune from Florida just camein first African American in National Statuary Hall
collection and she replaced a Confederate general. I love it. Yeah, Actually,
my next question was going to beabout Statuary Hall, so I'm glad
(21:30):
you brought that up. It's it'ssuch a little slice of America, you
know, a little like you said, it reflects the different values and you
know, feelings of each state andit's it's so neat to see them all
together like that. Well, andit's fascinating it And just like I talked
about, the Capitol itself had tobe expanded. The statuary collection is now
(21:56):
in a variety of places around thecapital, including the relatively new Capitol Visitor
Center. Because National Statuary Hall therewere so many states and so many statues,
they were concerned that the floor wouldfall in. Oh goodness, that
would not be good. You hadrows, and so nobody wanted to be
(22:18):
in the back row. Yeah.So now there are the statues are are
more dispersed summer in the crypt,which is the crypt is just underneath National
Statuary Hall. And the crypt isinteresting because there is a star in the
crypt, which is the geographic centerof Washington, DC. Wow, there
(22:41):
is an empty tomb there. Itwas built for to have George Washington's remains
there but the capitol and finished tilltwenty five years died and so his family
was like, uh, he's totallyfine in Non Vernon, where I suspect
you might have preferred Mount Vernon anyway, Well that's what they say. So
(23:04):
there is there literally is an emptytomb that there's no one, no one
there. But in the crypt arestatues from each of the thirteen original colonies.
Oh wow, Yeah, that's verycool. I love that. Like
you said, it's a museum aswell as you know, working office building,
and it really just reflects how ourcountry has grown and changed over a
(23:29):
couple of centuries and continues too,you know, continues to grow, continues
to change, continues to evolve,you know, it's it's fun to watch
there. In both the crypt andin Statuary Hall and in the rotunda there
are velvet ropes, you know,like you would see at a theater or
(23:49):
someplace, so that there's a placefor the members and staff to walk through,
so that the tour the tourists haveto you know, allow for a
space so they're not sort of continuallyExcuse me, I'm trying repeating. Yes,
yes, And I have had theprivilege of being on the little metro
(24:10):
station underneath too, which is whichis pretty fun. Yes, the the
subways that connect the buildings and soyeah, they're pretty fun. There are
lots of fun. They're lots Wait, so if kids were to come visit
the Capitol, which I hope everybodyhas the opportunity to do, what are
some of your favorite things that theyshould be sure to see? Well,
(24:34):
I think that one of the mostfavorite things is to come and to the
rotunda and see those amazing paintings,I mean, and then to turn your
head and look up at the skyand you'll see the Apotheosis of Washington,
which is depiction by Constantino Beauty,who was, as we say, an
(25:03):
American by choice. He was anItalian immigrant, and he painted the Washington
as if he had ascended into heaven, with each of the you know,
state a representative of each of theoriginal colonies. And it is pretty amazing
(25:26):
to look at. And then there'sa freeze around it that is the freeze
of American history. And Bermdi himselfdied while while while doing it, and
it was finished then by another artist, and it is such an amazing depiction
(25:47):
that it looks three dimensional, butit's actually it's actually not three dimensional.
So that's a pretty magical place.Statue a hall's a magical place. And
if you think, the other thingyou get to see is the old Supreme
Court chamber, and it is youlook at it is very small and you
(26:08):
think about the consequential decisions that weremade in that small chamber, and it
really gives you a sense of history. Now, the Supreme Court has its
own building, you know, whichis across the street from the Capitol,
but it was, you know,very very small facility. And I think
(26:34):
it's important for people to recognize thejust the fact that these are we elect
our leaders and they meet together ina very hands on way. You can
also walk by when you're in thecrypt and see where you would walk down
(26:56):
the stairs if you were going outto your inauguration to be elected president.
Wow, that's pretty cool. Myfavorite thing outside the Capitol is on the
atop of the Capitol is the Statueof Freedom. Now, the story of
the Statue of Freedom is a greatstory. It is a bronze statue.
(27:18):
It is thirty two feet high,but since it's four hundred feet up in
the air, what's pretty small.And it was put on when at the
end of the Civil War. Youknow, I told you that Lincoln was
rebuilding the Capitol even during the CivilWar. He never gave up. He
(27:40):
wanted it to be a symbol ofthe unity of our country. And there
was a lot of debate about whosestatue he should go up at the top.
You know, some people said,oh, it should be George Washington,
and then other people said, we'vehad enough of George Washington. We
need to, you know, haveit be what is unique about America.
What's unique about Americas that are werededicated to freedom? And so the Statue
(28:04):
of Freedom is a symbolic it's nota human person, it's a you know,
And so there was a lot ofdiscussion about how to do that and
to what to put in and itwas cast in bronze, but it was
(28:25):
developed overseas in Italy where the bestsculptors were and sent across in pieces and
then had to be the reassembled andthen cast in bronze here in Bladensburg,
Maryland, outside of outside of DC. And the person William Crawford who was
(28:48):
doing it had one of his enslavedpeople, Philip Reid, who was the
best at doing this working and he, Philip Reed, worked on the Statue
of Freedom as an enslaved person.During the time that he was working on
the Statue of Freedom, President Lincolnissued the freedom for all of the enslaved
(29:17):
people in Washington, DC, andso Philip Reed, for the last seven
months of working on the Statue ofFreedom was paid as a free person.
I have goosebumps. Yeah, thatis such a wonderful story and it encapsulates
so much about the American spirit.It does. That's why you know when
(29:44):
you look up and see it,it is really something else. Well,
thank you for sharing it with ustoday and thank you for being here today.
This was a great background on howthe capital came to be where it
is, you know, and whywhy it's so important and something I think
everyone should visit an experience. Absolutely, it is important that our children understand
(30:07):
the values of our country. Yeah, those values don't mean that we're always
going to agree, but it meanswe're going to care about this country surviving
and showing the way to freedom andinclusion and equality, and that sometimes we
say, the Capital is where wecome to argue, you know, where
(30:30):
we come to debate how to getstuff done. At the end of the
day, we find a way tocompromise. We do, and that's why
the American Experiments indoors exactly and willcontinue. Well, thank you so much
for joining us today. This wasjust a wonderful episode. Thank you,
(30:51):
Amelia, thanks for having me,Thank you for listening. I love to
visit historical buildings and really all historicalplaces. They don't just tell the story
of the time that they were built, but the story of from then until
now, and the Capital is agreat example of that. As Jane told
(31:15):
us, it goes from Thomas Jeffersonputting together a compromise just to pick the
location, to George Washington, theWar of eighteen twelve, the Civil War,
you know things moving and changing.The building has different jobs, it
represents different people, has different art. It's just a really great story of
America. I have had the opportunityto visit and take a tour and it
(31:38):
is just special to be there,and I hope that everyone can have that
opportunity. But if you can't getthere right now, you can visit the
United States Capitol Historical Society at CapitalHistory dot org and there are so many
cool videos and other resources that cangive you a great introduction and show you
around. I hope that you visit, and I hope you love it.
(32:00):
Until next time. You can findus at Growing Patriots dot com and at
Growing Patriots on Instagram, Facebook,and Twitter. See you next time.
They create us Soldiery Standing, andthey thought so we would be America Bandage.
(32:28):
This has been a presentation of theFCB podcast Network, where real talk
lifts. Visit us online at FCBPodcasts dot com.
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