WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.019 Welcome to the deep dive I am I'm so glad you 00:00:04.019 --> 00:00:06.059 were joining us today because we are looking 00:00:06.059 --> 00:00:08.929 at something you have seen A thousand times. 00:00:08.949 --> 00:00:11.390 Oh, easily a thousand. Right. It's on the evening 00:00:11.390 --> 00:00:14.130 news. It's the backdrop of countless movies. 00:00:14.210 --> 00:00:16.870 It's even printed on the back of the $50 bill. 00:00:16.969 --> 00:00:18.690 We're talking about the United States Capitol 00:00:18.690 --> 00:00:21.030 building. But right out of the gate, I want to 00:00:21.030 --> 00:00:23.309 promise you something. This is not going to be 00:00:23.309 --> 00:00:27.170 a dry, dusty civics lesson about how a bill becomes 00:00:27.170 --> 00:00:30.370 a law. Not at all. We are looking at the physical 00:00:30.370 --> 00:00:32.909 space itself, which is honestly a story of fire. 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:35.880 sprawls and some truly staggering engineering. 00:00:36.100 --> 00:00:38.439 Exactly. Our source material today is a really 00:00:38.439 --> 00:00:40.920 comprehensive historical overview of the U .S. 00:00:40.920 --> 00:00:43.340 Capitol. And our mission for this deep dive is 00:00:43.340 --> 00:00:45.960 to give you a massive shortcut. We want you to 00:00:45.960 --> 00:00:48.359 walk away from this incredibly well -informed, 00:00:48.359 --> 00:00:51.219 completely bypassing that, you know, postcard 00:00:51.219 --> 00:00:53.880 perfect, pristine image you usually see. Yeah, 00:00:53.899 --> 00:00:56.240 the tourist version. Right. We're going to uncover 00:00:56.240 --> 00:00:59.920 the messy, the surprising and the profoundly 00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:02.719 human history that is actually hiding right behind. 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:05.659 that famous white marble facade. And it is essential 00:01:05.659 --> 00:01:08.319 to look past that static monument we see today 00:01:08.319 --> 00:01:11.599 because the Capitol is a living, breathing structure. 00:01:11.900 --> 00:01:14.920 I mean, it is physically expanded in these chaotic 00:01:14.920 --> 00:01:18.239 spurts. It is burned and it has evolved right 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:20.879 alongside the country. The guiding question I 00:01:20.879 --> 00:01:22.420 really want you to keep in mind as we go through 00:01:22.420 --> 00:01:25.219 the sources today is this. How does the physical 00:01:25.219 --> 00:01:28.640 structure of a building dictate and reflect the 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:31.079 history of the democracy that is happening inside 00:01:31.079 --> 00:01:33.099 it? OK, let's unpack this, because to understand 00:01:33.099 --> 00:01:34.579 the Capitol, we actually have to start before 00:01:34.579 --> 00:01:37.519 it even existed. In the early days of the U .S. 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:40.120 government, Congress was practically nomadic. 00:01:40.200 --> 00:01:41.859 They didn't have Washington, D .C. Yeah, they 00:01:41.859 --> 00:01:43.260 were bouncing all over the place. Yeah, they 00:01:43.260 --> 00:01:45.640 were meeting in Philadelphia, New York, Princeton, 00:01:45.859 --> 00:01:49.079 Annapolis, just bouncing around the eastern seaboard. 00:01:49.230 --> 00:01:51.909 And the reason they had to keep moving is wild. 00:01:52.230 --> 00:01:54.230 I was reading in the source about the Pennsylvania 00:01:54.230 --> 00:01:58.129 mutiny in 1783. What exactly happened there that 00:01:58.129 --> 00:02:01.159 forced them out of Philadelphia? It was a very 00:02:01.159 --> 00:02:04.180 precarious time. You had a mob of angry soldiers 00:02:04.180 --> 00:02:06.760 who converged on Independence Hall in Philadelphia, 00:02:06.980 --> 00:02:09.539 and they were demanding back pay for their service 00:02:09.539 --> 00:02:11.599 in the Revolutionary War. And they're just outside 00:02:11.599 --> 00:02:13.599 the door. Right outside. So the lawmakers inside 00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:16.500 appealed to the local Pennsylvania government 00:02:16.500 --> 00:02:19.520 for protection, but the local authorities essentially 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:22.900 refused to intervene. So Congress was forced 00:02:22.900 --> 00:02:26.259 to literally flee the city. Wow. So they realized 00:02:26.259 --> 00:02:29.060 right then and there they can't rely on a state 00:02:29.060 --> 00:02:31.500 governor for their own physical safety. Exactly. 00:02:31.960 --> 00:02:34.939 If we connect this to the bigger picture, that 00:02:34.939 --> 00:02:38.000 fear of being at the mercy of a local state government 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:41.439 is exactly why they realized they needed a permanent, 00:02:41.620 --> 00:02:44.919 independent federal capital. They needed their 00:02:44.919 --> 00:02:47.580 own jurisdiction. But deciding where to put that 00:02:47.580 --> 00:02:50.620 jurisdiction was incredibly contentious. Which 00:02:50.620 --> 00:02:52.439 makes sense. Everyone wanted the power. Right. 00:02:52.520 --> 00:02:55.259 And it led to Alexander Hamilton brokering one 00:02:55.259 --> 00:02:57.419 of the most famous compromises in American history. 00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:00.060 The northern states had a lot of Revolutionary 00:03:00.060 --> 00:03:02.159 War debt, and the southern states didn't want 00:03:02.159 --> 00:03:04.139 to pay for it. So the compromise was that the 00:03:04.139 --> 00:03:05.840 federal government would absorb the northern 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:08.620 debt, and in exchange, the South got the permanent 00:03:08.620 --> 00:03:10.939 capital located right along the Potomac River. 00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:14.229 Which brings us to Pierre L 'Enfant. the planner 00:03:14.229 --> 00:03:16.830 who was tasked with figuring out where this grand 00:03:16.830 --> 00:03:20.069 building should actually sit. He finds a spot 00:03:20.069 --> 00:03:23.050 called Jenkins Hill and famously describes it 00:03:23.050 --> 00:03:26.189 in the source material as a pedestal awaiting 00:03:26.189 --> 00:03:29.030 a monument. A very grand vision. It's such a 00:03:29.030 --> 00:03:31.289 cinematic way to view what was basically a patch 00:03:31.289 --> 00:03:34.180 of dirt. But L 'Enfant ends up getting dismissed 00:03:34.180 --> 00:03:36.879 and they still need a building. So Thomas Jefferson 00:03:36.879 --> 00:03:39.539 decides the best way forward is to launch a public 00:03:39.539 --> 00:03:41.939 design competition. A competition with a prize 00:03:41.939 --> 00:03:44.819 of $500 and a lot of land in the new federal 00:03:44.819 --> 00:03:47.199 city. Which, you have to remember, the United 00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:49.280 States was a brand new country. There were very 00:03:49.280 --> 00:03:51.580 few professionally trained architects. The source 00:03:51.580 --> 00:03:54.560 describes the initial response as pretty dismal. 00:03:54.639 --> 00:03:56.780 I mean, they only got about 10 submissions and 00:03:56.780 --> 00:03:59.460 most of them were crude and amateurish. I saw 00:03:59.460 --> 00:04:01.360 sketches that look like someone's rough draft 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:04.939 for a large barn. Yes, very utilitarian. They 00:04:04.939 --> 00:04:06.780 just couldn't find anything that matched the 00:04:06.780 --> 00:04:09.219 grand vision of a new republic. They consulted 00:04:09.219 --> 00:04:12.439 a French architect whose ideas were far too ornate 00:04:12.439 --> 00:04:14.789 and expensive. And then most of the local submissions 00:04:14.789 --> 00:04:16.990 were too simple. They were looking for a very 00:04:16.990 --> 00:04:20.009 specific architectural language that would communicate 00:04:20.009 --> 00:04:22.410 legitimacy to the rest of the world. And then 00:04:22.410 --> 00:04:24.870 a late entry comes in from a guy named William 00:04:24.870 --> 00:04:27.430 Thornton. And the incredible thing is Thornton 00:04:27.430 --> 00:04:29.910 wasn't even a professional architect. No, he's 00:04:29.910 --> 00:04:31.889 a physician. A physician. He's a total amateur, 00:04:32.189 --> 00:04:35.949 yet his design is the one that wins. What was 00:04:35.949 --> 00:04:38.110 it about his sketches that caught the attention 00:04:38.110 --> 00:04:40.569 of the founders? Well, George Washington and 00:04:40.569 --> 00:04:42.870 Thomas Jefferson loved what they described. described 00:04:42.870 --> 00:04:46.870 as its grandeur, simplicity, and beauty. Thornton 00:04:46.870 --> 00:04:48.990 was heavily inspired by European architecture, 00:04:49.350 --> 00:04:52.170 specifically the east front of the Louvre and 00:04:52.170 --> 00:04:54.769 the Paris Pantheon. Oh, okay. He included a grand 00:04:54.769 --> 00:04:58.129 circular room and a central dome. For Jefferson 00:04:58.129 --> 00:05:01.069 and Washington, that classical design perfectly 00:05:01.069 --> 00:05:04.029 captured the democratic, Roman, and Greek ideals 00:05:04.029 --> 00:05:06.670 they wanted to project. It wasn't a palace for 00:05:06.670 --> 00:05:09.129 a king, it was a temple for a republic. So they 00:05:09.129 --> 00:05:11.759 have the design, and they get to work. On September 00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:15.560 18, 1793, they lay the cornerstone. But George 00:05:15.560 --> 00:05:17.720 Washington doesn't just show up in a standard 00:05:17.720 --> 00:05:20.699 suit for a ribbon cutting. He performs the ceremony 00:05:20.699 --> 00:05:23.240 dressed in full Masonic regalia. Yes, the full 00:05:23.240 --> 00:05:25.790 traditional attire. He's wearing the ceremonial 00:05:25.790 --> 00:05:28.269 apron. He's using the silver trowel alongside 00:05:28.269 --> 00:05:31.810 eight other Freemasons. It is a highly theatrical, 00:05:32.029 --> 00:05:35.129 ritualistic beginning. But the source material 00:05:35.129 --> 00:05:37.850 provides a really stark contrast between that 00:05:37.850 --> 00:05:40.550 grand ceremony and the reality of how the building 00:05:40.550 --> 00:05:42.689 was actually constructed. Who was doing the heavy 00:05:42.689 --> 00:05:45.689 lifting? That is a vital point. The initial plan 00:05:45.689 --> 00:05:48.029 was to recruit workers from Europe, but the response 00:05:48.029 --> 00:05:51.240 to those recruitment efforts was very poor. Consequently, 00:05:51.319 --> 00:05:53.680 the grueling labor required to raise this massive 00:05:53.680 --> 00:05:56.439 stone structure fell largely to African Americans, 00:05:56.600 --> 00:05:58.720 both enslaved and free. They worked alongside 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:01.899 Scottish stonemasons. But the enslaved laborers 00:06:01.899 --> 00:06:04.079 were the ones cutting the timber, laying the 00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:06.420 heavy stone foundations, and baking the bricks 00:06:06.420 --> 00:06:09.720 in the kilns. And understanding this is absolutely 00:06:09.720 --> 00:06:13.160 crucial. You cannot grasp the foundational history 00:06:13.160 --> 00:06:15.399 of the building without acknowledging that a 00:06:15.399 --> 00:06:18.240 monument designed to celebrate liberty was physically 00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:21.079 built, in large part, through enslaved labor. 00:06:21.300 --> 00:06:24.439 It is a profound paradox that is literally baked 00:06:24.439 --> 00:06:27.220 into the bricks of the foundation. And the building 00:06:27.220 --> 00:06:29.399 itself struggled to survive its early decades. 00:06:29.560 --> 00:06:32.259 I mean, during the War of 1812, the British marched 00:06:32.259 --> 00:06:34.579 into Washington and set fire to the Capitol in 00:06:34.579 --> 00:06:37.560 1814. Just a devastating blow. to the new capital. 00:06:37.740 --> 00:06:40.060 It was partially burned and architects like Benjamin 00:06:40.060 --> 00:06:42.519 Henry Latrobe and Charles Bullfinch had to step 00:06:42.519 --> 00:06:44.699 in to oversee the reconstruction, which included 00:06:44.699 --> 00:06:48.079 a new copper dome. But here's where it gets really 00:06:48.079 --> 00:06:51.040 interesting. We get to the 1850s. The country 00:06:51.040 --> 00:06:53.300 is expanding rapidly. New states are joining 00:06:53.300 --> 00:06:55.379 the union and they simply need more room for 00:06:55.379 --> 00:06:57.019 all the new representatives. So they build these 00:06:57.019 --> 00:06:58.879 massive new wings for the House and the Senate. 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:01.439 And that piecemeal expansion created a massive 00:07:01.439 --> 00:07:04.279 visual problem. Oh, how so? Well, the building 00:07:04.279 --> 00:07:07.209 was now incredibly long. but Bullfinch's original 00:07:07.209 --> 00:07:09.490 copper dome was still sitting right in the middle. 00:07:10.009 --> 00:07:12.839 Visually, the dome looked tiny, And completely 00:07:12.839 --> 00:07:15.759 disproportionate to the massive new wings, it 00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:18.360 threw off the entire symmetry of Thornton's original 00:07:18.360 --> 00:07:20.759 vision. So they bring in an architect named Thomas 00:07:20.759 --> 00:07:24.300 U. Walter to fix it. And he designs the massive 00:07:24.300 --> 00:07:26.860 wedding cake style dome that we all recognize 00:07:26.860 --> 00:07:30.079 today. But he didn't use copper or stone. He 00:07:30.079 --> 00:07:32.420 used cast iron. Which is where the engineering 00:07:32.420 --> 00:07:35.360 becomes truly staggering. That cast iron dome 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:40.040 weighs 8 ,909 ,200 pounds. Over 8 million pounds. 00:07:40.300 --> 00:07:42.470 Nearly nine. Think about the logistics of the 00:07:42.470 --> 00:07:45.910 1850s. They used steam -powered derricks to hoist 00:07:45.910 --> 00:07:48.449 nearly 9 million pounds of iron up into the sky, 00:07:48.629 --> 00:07:50.790 and they had to figure out how to support all 00:07:50.790 --> 00:07:52.910 of that immense weight on the existing older 00:07:52.910 --> 00:07:55.290 masonry walls of the building. Did the original 00:07:55.290 --> 00:07:58.110 structure just handle that kind of pressure effortlessly? 00:07:58.329 --> 00:08:00.490 Not at all. The visual and physical weight of 00:08:00.490 --> 00:08:02.490 the new dome was so massive that it eventually 00:08:02.490 --> 00:08:04.850 overpowered the proportions of the original columns 00:08:04.850 --> 00:08:06.870 on the East Portico. It just looked too heavy. 00:08:07.009 --> 00:08:09.660 Exactly. The dome looked like it was hovering 00:08:09.660 --> 00:08:12.339 too heavily over the eastern entrance, which 00:08:12.339 --> 00:08:14.680 eventually led to an entirely new architectural 00:08:14.680 --> 00:08:18.019 expansion of the east front decades later just 00:08:18.019 --> 00:08:19.740 to visually balance out the weight of the iron. 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:23.120 The building was constantly forcing its architects 00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:25.939 to adapt to its own expanding scale. I want to 00:08:25.939 --> 00:08:27.639 take you inside the building now because the 00:08:27.639 --> 00:08:30.560 interior is just as fascinating as that 9 million 00:08:30.560 --> 00:08:33.860 pound dome. Let's start at the very bottom on 00:08:33.860 --> 00:08:36.559 the ground floor in a space called the crypt. 00:08:37.289 --> 00:08:39.929 It was designed with a specific purpose in mind. 00:08:40.129 --> 00:08:42.730 It was meant to hold the body of George Washington. 00:08:42.950 --> 00:08:44.889 They were very intent on that. Yeah, they even 00:08:44.889 --> 00:08:47.029 built a circular opening in the floor of the 00:08:47.029 --> 00:08:49.830 rotunda above it with a ringed balustrade so 00:08:49.830 --> 00:08:52.269 visitors could look down at his tomb. But if 00:08:52.269 --> 00:08:54.929 you go there today, Washington isn't there. No, 00:08:54.990 --> 00:08:57.429 his will dictated that he be buried at his estate 00:08:57.429 --> 00:08:59.629 at Mount Vernon, and his family honored that 00:08:59.629 --> 00:09:02.590 wish, so the intended tomb remained empty. Today, 00:09:02.750 --> 00:09:04.889 the crypt holds a compass star inlaid in the 00:09:04.889 --> 00:09:07.259 floor. which marks the point that divides Washington, 00:09:07.460 --> 00:09:10.259 D .C. into its four quadrants. It also holds 00:09:10.259 --> 00:09:13.220 a massive bust of Abraham Lincoln. It was carved 00:09:13.220 --> 00:09:16.899 from a single six -ton block of marble by Gutzon 00:09:16.899 --> 00:09:19.080 Borglum, the sculptor who later created Mount 00:09:19.080 --> 00:09:21.919 Rushmore. And there is a lingering legend about 00:09:21.919 --> 00:09:25.019 this bust, that Borglum intentionally left Lincoln's 00:09:25.019 --> 00:09:27.559 left ear missing to symbolize his unfinished 00:09:27.559 --> 00:09:30.120 life and presidency. What's fascinating here 00:09:30.120 --> 00:09:31.860 is what happens when you move up from the crypt 00:09:31.860 --> 00:09:34.669 and stand in the rotunda. You look up into the 00:09:34.669 --> 00:09:37.309 canopy of that massive iron dome and you see 00:09:37.309 --> 00:09:40.129 a fresco painted by Constantino Brumidi. Now, 00:09:40.190 --> 00:09:42.129 a fresco is a technique where the artist paints 00:09:42.129 --> 00:09:44.610 directly into wet plaster. So you had to work 00:09:44.610 --> 00:09:47.330 incredibly fast. Very fast. You had to work quickly 00:09:47.330 --> 00:09:49.830 while suspended on scaffolding nearly 180 feet 00:09:49.830 --> 00:09:51.950 in the air. And the painting is called The Apotheosis 00:09:51.950 --> 00:09:55.769 of Washington. Yes. And the word apotheosis means 00:09:55.769 --> 00:09:59.460 the elevation of someone to divine status. And 00:09:59.460 --> 00:10:01.840 that is exactly what Brumidi painted. It depicts 00:10:01.840 --> 00:10:03.740 George Washington ascending into the heavens, 00:10:03.860 --> 00:10:06.440 surrounded by classical Roman and Greek gods. 00:10:06.639 --> 00:10:08.639 It was the first attempt by the United States 00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:11.740 government to literally defy founding father 00:10:11.740 --> 00:10:14.980 through art. What does that say about the mindset 00:10:14.980 --> 00:10:16.980 of the country at that time? Because looking 00:10:16.980 --> 00:10:19.519 up at the first president hanging out with Roman 00:10:19.519 --> 00:10:22.240 deities feels like a very bold statement. It 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:24.440 reveals a deep sense of insecurity, actually. 00:10:24.950 --> 00:10:27.169 The fresco was completed right at the end of 00:10:27.169 --> 00:10:28.870 the Civil War. The nation had just torn itself 00:10:28.870 --> 00:10:32.309 apart. By painting Washington as a divine, immortal 00:10:32.309 --> 00:10:34.990 figure surrounded by gods of commerce, mechanics, 00:10:35.090 --> 00:10:37.269 and agriculture, the government was projecting 00:10:37.269 --> 00:10:39.850 an image of divine permanence. They needed the 00:10:39.850 --> 00:10:43.029 republic to look eternal, precisely because the 00:10:43.029 --> 00:10:45.289 reality of the country was incredibly fragile. 00:10:45.610 --> 00:10:47.830 That makes a lot of sense. The building is trying 00:10:47.830 --> 00:10:50.230 to project stability, but the actual rooms where 00:10:50.230 --> 00:10:52.490 the lawmakers meet are full of eccentricities. 00:10:53.159 --> 00:10:55.519 In the House chamber, there are 448 permanent 00:10:55.519 --> 00:10:58.480 seats, but none of them are assigned. Just open 00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:01.179 seating. Right. And circling the upper walls 00:11:01.179 --> 00:11:04.159 of that chamber are 23 marble relief portraits 00:11:04.159 --> 00:11:07.000 of famous historical lawgivers. You have figures 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:09.580 like Hammurabi and Thomas Jefferson. But out 00:11:09.580 --> 00:11:13.259 of all 23 portraits, only one is sculpted from 00:11:13.259 --> 00:11:15.620 a full, straight -on front view. Every other 00:11:15.620 --> 00:11:18.440 figure is carved in profile. The only one looking 00:11:18.440 --> 00:11:21.809 straight out at the chamber is Moses. It is a 00:11:21.809 --> 00:11:25.529 deliberate choice by the artists to embed these 00:11:25.529 --> 00:11:28.049 deep historical and cultural influences directly 00:11:28.049 --> 00:11:30.190 into the walls where modern laws are debated. 00:11:30.429 --> 00:11:33.250 The architecture is constantly reminding the 00:11:33.250 --> 00:11:35.309 occupants of the historical weight of their actions. 00:11:35.529 --> 00:11:37.389 And sometimes the building struggles with the 00:11:37.389 --> 00:11:39.490 physical weight of what is brought inside it. 00:11:39.549 --> 00:11:41.789 Take Statuary Hall, which is the old house chamber. 00:11:41.970 --> 00:11:44.470 The tradition is that each state gets to donate 00:11:44.470 --> 00:11:47.840 two statues of prominent citizens. Well, in 1959, 00:11:48.220 --> 00:11:50.559 Hawaii joined the union and donated a bronze 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:53.360 statue of King Kamehameha. But they had a major 00:11:53.360 --> 00:11:55.860 problem. Weight issue again. Yes. The statue 00:11:55.860 --> 00:11:58.220 weighed 15 ,000 pounds. They couldn't place in 00:11:58.220 --> 00:12:00.039 the statuary hall because the engineers were 00:12:00.039 --> 00:12:01.659 legitimately afraid it would crash right through 00:12:01.659 --> 00:12:03.820 the floorboards. They had to relocate it to a 00:12:03.820 --> 00:12:06.039 sturdier part of the building. It is a great 00:12:06.039 --> 00:12:08.659 metaphor for the Capitol as a whole. The physical 00:12:08.659 --> 00:12:10.980 structure is constantly straining to accommodate 00:12:10.980 --> 00:12:14.500 the sheer volume of history, people, and monuments 00:12:14.500 --> 00:12:16.590 placed inside it. And speaking of the people, 00:12:16.789 --> 00:12:19.009 the basement of the Capitol holds secrets from 00:12:19.009 --> 00:12:21.950 the daily lives of the lawmakers. Tucked away 00:12:21.950 --> 00:12:24.970 in a utility space, there are two original marble 00:12:24.970 --> 00:12:28.600 bathtubs left over from the 19th century. Before 00:12:28.600 --> 00:12:30.799 modern plumbing was common in the city, Congress 00:12:30.799 --> 00:12:33.379 actually had a spa -like facility for senators 00:12:33.379 --> 00:12:35.799 down there, complete with a barbershop and massage 00:12:35.799 --> 00:12:39.419 parlor. You can also find a steep, hidden metal 00:12:39.419 --> 00:12:43.720 staircase with exactly 365 steps leading up to 00:12:43.720 --> 00:12:45.559 the dome, representing the days of the year. 00:12:45.929 --> 00:12:48.009 But one of the most interesting contemporary 00:12:48.009 --> 00:12:50.570 details from the source material is that there 00:12:50.570 --> 00:12:53.070 is a space in the basement where Muslim staffers 00:12:53.070 --> 00:12:55.870 currently hold weekly Friday Jummah prayers. 00:12:56.070 --> 00:12:58.289 Which is a profound reflection of modern America. 00:12:58.529 --> 00:13:01.090 But what is truly interesting is how that modern 00:13:01.090 --> 00:13:03.210 religious practice connects to the building's 00:13:03.210 --> 00:13:06.049 earliest days. In the early 19th century, during 00:13:06.049 --> 00:13:07.970 the administrations of Thomas Jefferson and James 00:13:07.970 --> 00:13:10.470 Madison, they actually attended Protestant church 00:13:10.470 --> 00:13:13.269 services inside the house chamber. Wait, they 00:13:13.269 --> 00:13:15.330 held church services in the House of Representatives? 00:13:15.649 --> 00:13:17.889 They did. The state effectively became the church 00:13:17.889 --> 00:13:20.409 on Sundays. Preachers from various Protestant 00:13:20.409 --> 00:13:22.549 denominations would deliver sermons right there 00:13:22.549 --> 00:13:24.850 in the chamber. Jefferson found it acceptable 00:13:24.850 --> 00:13:27.149 because attendance was strictly voluntary and 00:13:27.149 --> 00:13:29.789 non -discriminatory. So the Capitol has this 00:13:29.789 --> 00:13:32.970 long, complex history of functioning as a space 00:13:32.970 --> 00:13:35.490 for personal religious practice right alongside 00:13:35.490 --> 00:13:38.190 its role in secular lawmaking. It functions as 00:13:38.190 --> 00:13:39.970 the ultimate gathering place for the nation. 00:13:40.460 --> 00:13:42.820 It is a stage for history. We see it used for 00:13:42.820 --> 00:13:45.440 presidential inaugurations. We see it used as 00:13:45.440 --> 00:13:48.340 a place of profound public mourning where citizens 00:13:48.340 --> 00:13:51.500 have lain in state or honor. The source notes 00:13:51.500 --> 00:13:53.840 everyone from Abraham Lincoln to civil rights 00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:56.460 icon Rosa Parks and the Reverend Billy Graham. 00:13:56.740 --> 00:13:59.379 But because the Capitol is the undeniable center 00:13:59.379 --> 00:14:02.019 of American power, it has also been a continuous 00:14:02.019 --> 00:14:04.399 target for violence. The building has been the 00:14:04.399 --> 00:14:06.679 site of conflict for almost as long as it has 00:14:06.679 --> 00:14:08.879 been standing. Let's look at the timeline the 00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:12.809 sources provide. Going back to 1835, there was 00:14:12.809 --> 00:14:15.049 an assassination attempt on President Andrew 00:14:15.049 --> 00:14:18.070 Jackson right outside on the East Portico. A 00:14:18.070 --> 00:14:20.009 man named Richard Lawrence stepped out of the 00:14:20.009 --> 00:14:22.649 crowd, aimed a pistol at Jackson, and pulled 00:14:22.649 --> 00:14:25.789 the trigger. But it misfired. He dropped it, 00:14:25.830 --> 00:14:28.250 pulled out a second pistol, fired again, and 00:14:28.250 --> 00:14:31.179 that one misfired too. Historians generally attribute 00:14:31.179 --> 00:14:33.440 the misfires to the heavy humidity that day, 00:14:33.539 --> 00:14:36.139 which likely ruined the gunpowder in both weapons. 00:14:36.360 --> 00:14:38.519 And Jackson, who was famous for his temper, didn't 00:14:38.519 --> 00:14:40.799 run away. He attacked the shooter with his walking 00:14:40.799 --> 00:14:43.059 cane until Davy Crockett and others managed to 00:14:43.059 --> 00:14:45.100 restrain the guy. So you have violence outside 00:14:45.100 --> 00:14:46.440 the building, but you also have it inside the 00:14:46.440 --> 00:14:49.840 chambers. In 1844, a massive fistfight broke 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:52.539 out right on the House floor. How does a legislative 00:14:52.539 --> 00:14:54.820 session devolve into a brawl? It started with 00:14:54.820 --> 00:14:57.059 a simple breach of decorum. A representative 00:14:57.059 --> 00:14:59.139 told the House speaker to be quiet during a speech. 00:14:59.740 --> 00:15:02.320 Tensions were already high, and that insult sparked 00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:04.879 a physical altercation that escalated into dozens 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:06.720 of members fighting each other on the floor. 00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:09.720 During the chaos, someone in the visitor gallery 00:15:09.720 --> 00:15:12.019 actually fired a pistol into the crowd below. 00:15:12.279 --> 00:15:15.899 So, what does this all mean for us today? The 00:15:15.899 --> 00:15:18.440 Capitol has always been a physical manifestation 00:15:18.440 --> 00:15:20.480 of the country's political temperature. We saw 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:23.039 that physical vulnerability in the 1800s and 00:15:23.039 --> 00:15:25.019 the source material documents that we are still 00:15:25.019 --> 00:15:27.080 seeing it in the modern era. And just looking 00:15:27.080 --> 00:15:28.879 directly at the historical timeline from our 00:15:28.879 --> 00:15:31.340 sources without taking any sides here. On January 00:15:31.340 --> 00:15:34.220 6th, 2021, during the counting of Electoral College 00:15:34.220 --> 00:15:37.080 votes for the 2020 presidential election, a pro 00:15:37.080 --> 00:15:39.659 -Trump mob unlawfully entered the Capitol to 00:15:39.659 --> 00:15:41.620 disrupt the certification of President -elect 00:15:41.620 --> 00:15:44.080 Joe Biden. Yes, that is detailed extensively 00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:46.600 in the source. The source documents that this 00:15:46.600 --> 00:15:48.860 triggered a lockdown resulted in the deaths of 00:15:48.860 --> 00:15:51.799 four rioters, including one woman shot by law 00:15:51.799 --> 00:15:54.240 enforcement and led to the second impeachment 00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:57.299 of Donald Trump. It marked the first time the 00:15:57.299 --> 00:15:59.279 Capitol had been violently seized since the British 00:15:59.279 --> 00:16:03.049 burned it in 1814. Furthermore, the source outlines 00:16:03.049 --> 00:16:06.309 a subsequent security event on June 13th, 2025. 00:16:07.070 --> 00:16:09.350 Protest groups broke through barriers attempting 00:16:09.350 --> 00:16:11.830 to hold a sit -in at the Capitol building. This 00:16:11.830 --> 00:16:13.889 was organized as a protest against the Trump 00:16:13.889 --> 00:16:16.769 administration's mass deportation efforts. The 00:16:16.769 --> 00:16:18.710 event resulted in police arresting around 60 00:16:18.710 --> 00:16:21.490 people, a group that included United States military 00:16:21.490 --> 00:16:24.049 veterans. When we look at this timeline of events 00:16:24.049 --> 00:16:26.129 through the lens of the architecture, we can 00:16:26.129 --> 00:16:28.250 see the profound physical toll that security 00:16:28.250 --> 00:16:30.509 concerns have taken on the building and its grounds. 00:16:30.730 --> 00:16:33.570 Every era of violence forces the Capitol to adapt 00:16:33.570 --> 00:16:36.769 its physical posture. For example, in 1998, two 00:16:36.769 --> 00:16:38.769 Capitol Police officers were tragically shot 00:16:38.769 --> 00:16:40.850 and killed. In response to that vulnerability, 00:16:41.169 --> 00:16:45.169 a massive $621 million underground Capitol Visitor 00:16:45.169 --> 00:16:47.730 Center was planned and built. That's a huge undertaking. 00:16:48.110 --> 00:16:50.730 The goal was to streamline security and push 00:16:50.730 --> 00:16:53.029 the screening process far away from the immediate 00:16:53.029 --> 00:16:55.919 historic entrances. Following the September 11 00:16:55.919 --> 00:16:58.419 attacks, and compounded by the events of 2021 00:16:58.419 --> 00:17:01.600 and 2025, the exterior grounds were radically 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:04.240 transformed. If you look at old photographs, 00:17:04.519 --> 00:17:07.119 the Capitol sat in an incredibly open, public, 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:10.299 park -like setting. Today, that open space is 00:17:10.299 --> 00:17:12.680 fortified. You see scores of jersey barriers, 00:17:12.920 --> 00:17:15.339 those heavy sloped concrete walls used to block 00:17:15.339 --> 00:17:17.759 off roads, along with hundreds of ornamental 00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:19.720 bollards, which are thick metal posts driven 00:17:19.720 --> 00:17:22.740 deep into the ground to stop vehicles. The physical 00:17:22.740 --> 00:17:24.900 reality of the building has shifted from a completely 00:17:24.900 --> 00:17:27.960 open public forum into a highly controlled fortified 00:17:27.960 --> 00:17:30.700 space. The environment completely changes how 00:17:30.700 --> 00:17:32.940 a citizen experiences walking up to the building. 00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:35.480 It changes the relationship between the public 00:17:35.480 --> 00:17:38.440 and the space entirely. If we are to synthesize 00:17:38.440 --> 00:17:40.400 everything we have explored in the source material 00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:43.880 today, it is clear that the capital is a remarkably 00:17:43.880 --> 00:17:46.859 accurate mirror of the nation it serves. It is 00:17:46.859 --> 00:17:50.000 grand, aspiring to the highest classical ideals. 00:17:50.339 --> 00:17:53.599 But it is also built on desperate political compromises 00:17:53.599 --> 00:17:56.099 and dark histories, like the reliance on enslaved 00:17:56.099 --> 00:17:59.220 labor. It is a structure filled with architectural 00:17:59.220 --> 00:18:02.079 eccentricities, constantly expanding to fit a 00:18:02.079 --> 00:18:04.460 growing country. And it is marked equally by 00:18:04.460 --> 00:18:07.460 moments of profound national reverence and instances 00:18:07.460 --> 00:18:10.900 of intense physical conflict. It is not just 00:18:10.900 --> 00:18:13.160 a passive container for American history. It 00:18:13.160 --> 00:18:15.680 is an active participant. As we wrap up this 00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:17.799 deep dive, I want to leave you with a final lingering 00:18:17.799 --> 00:18:19.839 thought based on a detail from the source material. 00:18:20.279 --> 00:18:22.059 We have talked a lot about how the building has 00:18:22.059 --> 00:18:24.619 expanded, how domed were replaced, and how walls 00:18:24.619 --> 00:18:27.440 were moved. But when a historic monumental building 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:29.519 like the U .S. Capitol gets a major upgrade, 00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:32.680 where do all the old pieces go? That is a great 00:18:32.680 --> 00:18:35.299 question. During the 20th century, architects 00:18:35.299 --> 00:18:38.099 undertook a massive project to rebuild the east 00:18:38.099 --> 00:18:41.039 front of the Capitol. During that process, they 00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:44.180 carefully removed the original majestic sandstone 00:18:44.180 --> 00:18:46.519 Corinthian columns, you know, those massive pillars 00:18:46.519 --> 00:18:49.339 with the leafy, ornate carvings at the top. But 00:18:49.339 --> 00:18:51.079 they didn't really have a plan for them. For 00:18:51.079 --> 00:18:52.839 a long time, these historic columns were simply 00:18:52.839 --> 00:18:55.559 dumped in an unused maintenance yard and forgotten. 00:18:55.740 --> 00:18:59.420 Just left there. Left in the yard. Today, if 00:18:59.420 --> 00:19:00.859 you know where to look, you can actually go visit 00:19:00.859 --> 00:19:03.079 them. They have been set up in a large meadow 00:19:03.079 --> 00:19:05.259 at the National Arboretum in Washington, D .C., 00:19:05.259 --> 00:19:07.599 standing alone in the grass like ancient Roman 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:10.380 ruins. And if you want to own a piece of the 00:19:10.380 --> 00:19:13.019 building for yourself, the United States Capitol 00:19:13.019 --> 00:19:16.160 Historical Society still periodically goes out 00:19:16.160 --> 00:19:18.720 to a park in D .C. to mine the old, discarded 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:21.400 19th century rubble from those early renovations. 00:19:21.740 --> 00:19:23.980 They cut up the raw stone and sell the pieces 00:19:23.980 --> 00:19:26.519 as commemorative bookends. It is a fascinating 00:19:26.519 --> 00:19:29.809 reality. symbol of the republic, with all its 00:19:29.809 --> 00:19:32.710 messy, triumphant, and tragic history. Even the 00:19:32.710 --> 00:19:35.069 discarded ruins of democracy can eventually end 00:19:35.069 --> 00:19:37.529 up quietly resting on someone's bookshelf. Think 00:19:37.529 --> 00:19:38.869 about that the next time you see the Capitol 00:19:38.869 --> 00:19:40.910 on the news. Thanks for joining us on this deep 00:19:40.910 --> 00:19:41.150 dive.