This is the FCB podcast Network. They're great US Solved, the Jeremy who stand Everything and they thought so we were America. Hello and welcome back to the growing patriot podcast, American History for 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 moved there, when, why, and even 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 CEO of the United States Capital Historical Society. We are a nonprofit organization chartered by Congress to tell the story of the Capitol the people who work there in manner that inspires informed patriotism. So your podcast is perfect for our worksolutely, I'm so excited to have you on today. In the last episode, we talked about George Washington's inauguration and of course that was up in New York at Federal Hall, so I thought this was a natural next episode to find out how did the capitol come to be in DC? Well, you know, the capitol came to Washington, DC as a result of a political compromise. Can you imagine people who didn't agree sat and try to negotiate. Now, of course, the story is been mostly told by Thomas Jefferson, who maintains that he was the one that negotiated the compromise between Hamilton and Madison at a dinner. And we weren't at the dinner, and the only report we have is of Jefferson's. But we know what happened and what the situation was. If you think about it. At the time this country was founded, we had never had representative democracy in the world. I mean, it was a brand new concept. Nobody knew what this was about, and so we were making it up as we went along. And the United States Constitution granted to the Congress the power to determine the location of America's capitol. But it was a very fervent debate. Folks in the South really wanted a capital that was between Mayor Earland in Virginia so that they could be sure that they could monitor the economic hub of the United States government. Northerners, meanwhile, were very worried that putting the capital there between two slave states who would in effect guarantee that slavery would be part of our country forever. At the same time, the states were 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 was what the party was called them, proposed that the United States government assumed state's debts as a way to establish legitimacy with the citizens to build credit for this brand new country. But the southern states were not so happy about that because some of them had paid off their war debt. So this was a big drama, and it actually converged at this dinner party in the room where it happened, so they said, and what they agreed was a historic compromise where Madison 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 would support a capital along the Potonac but became Washington, DC. And many years later Jefferson, in a bit of a self congratulate that I thought it impossible that reasonable men, of course, it was all men then consulting together coolly, could fail, by some mutual sacrifices of opinion, to form a compromise, which was to save the union. That is wonderful, And we've talked about compromise an awful lot. We've been going through the Constitution, even the Declaration of Independence, and nobody ever got exactly what they wanted, but you came up with something that worked. So this land at the time, how did it get its name? Well, the name is an interesting story, and it really tells the story about how we use naming as a way to honor people who really made significant contributions. And in September ninth, seventeen ninety one, the nation's capital was named after President George Washington. Before that it had been referred to as Federal City. It became the permanent home of the capital in eighteen hundred, just months after George Washington had died. The city commissioners had also popular popularized the federal district Columbia, which is the feminine of Columbus, which, as you remembers, one of the explorers who found the New 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 of Columbia. Is that part of what makes it it's different from any other, you know state, right, District of Columbia. The founder said it didn't want the seceat of government to be a state because there was all this question between the states rights and the states where this and this and this, that it should just be the place where government functioned. Therefore, they created the District of Columbia. Now, of course, now there's all this drama about, you know, should it be a state, and because more people live here. But at the time there were really the District of Columbia was not very well developed. Although the Capitol building, the placement of the Capitol Building has got a great story because George Washington, who was still alive when they decided where 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. And he came with a guy named Lafont, who was a French guy who loved the beauty of Paris, and he came and he envisioned that the Washington, DC would be a grand city. It was not at the time. It was literally British soldiers who had served here during the Revolutionary War got extra pay because they were serving in a swamp. But he and George Washington designated Capitol Hill as a plateau awaiting a monument. Monument is the United States Capital? Wow? And when when was that? When was the Capitol actually the actual capital building belt The cornerstone was laid on September eighteenth, seventeen ninety three, but that didn't mean the building opened right away. It took a while for everybody to get ready to do it. And remember that time, we didn't have like architects, you know, which is a profession now where people designed buildings and they know how to do it. So they had like an open competition and asked people to send in what did they think it should look like. And it was kind of a you know, open situation. And the guy who sent in the design that was chosen was a medical doctor. You imagine they had an idea. Jefferson wanted the Capitol somehow to mirror the models of antiquity, and in the end the design that they approved sort of they felt was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome for its grandeur, its simplicity, and its convenience. But the building was actually completed. They moved in in eighteen hundred and in the same building was Congress, the Supreme Court, and the 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 eighteen fourteen, during the War of eighteen twelve, the British came in and burned the capitol 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 imagine, the country was at war, chaos was reigning, finances were a mass. The historic dome had been had wooden columns. Oh and in order to build one as they had expanded, the country had expanded, so they had to have more spaces for the members. There were more senators because there were more states. There were more members of the Houses of Representatives because there were more people. So they expanded the House and Senate wing, which was what we think of them now, and then the dome. It looked too small. Plus it was following that was a problem. So they did a brand new renovation and that was when they did cast iron, because cast iron is actually stronger and lighter than what can you imagine? Wow, not something we instinctively know of. Yeah, that building was worked on during the run up to the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln. 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 tell you about, was a hospital. Wow, it's a hospital for Union soldiers. So there's been a lot that's gone on in the Capitol absolutely, So yeah, 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 most famous pictures of American history. The signing of the Declaration of Independence, the surrender of Lord Cornwallis. But we believe that the most important picture is the picture of General George Washington resigning his commission. Now why is that important? George Washington was the general of the Revolutionary Army, you know, and the America was brand new at that time. We were just you know, an emerging country with a brand new idea that we could be a country of what Lincoln the later called of the people, by the people, and for the people. There was no such concept in the world. It had not ever been done. And George Washington was so popular that he could have been the king, he could have had a complete power, but he said that he believed 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 went to Mount Learning. Wow, and King George, who we had just beaten over there, and Ah said, if that really happened, George Washington is the most inspiring leader in the world. And that's why we think that particular painting set the stage for what we call the American Experiment, which has been tested over and over again and continues to be tested as we you know, take those values that were put forth. I mean, mind you you know the founding fathers, Yeah, they were all fathers, They're all guys. Some of them thought that owning slaves was appropriate, but they still set forth an idea of equality, an idea of inclusion, and that has been built on to include women, to include people of multidifferent colors, multidifferent races, and they set forth to form a more perfect union, sort of in setting up that there will continue to be movement. And the Capital Building is a fascinating building because on the one hand it's a museum with these amazing you know, statues and paintings. But on the other hand, it's a working office and it is the lace where people come to petition their government. And so, you know, you walk into the Capitol now that we're done with COVID, and you know all that kind there are kids from schools, there are people who are there to make their plea for this or that, and we've had all kinds of things come, including a cow. Cow. Now you know, you don't think perhaps cows, you know, have a big organization. But think about this. During World War One, the price of dairy products, milk, you know, cheese, all that just skyrocket. And the farmers drop the price of milk during the war, but still the dairy prices remain frustratingly high. And so Congress created what they do, a Joint Commission on Agricultural Inquiry, a committee to look at this to figure out who's responsible for these prices that are made. Was so mad across the country, and so one exasperated congressman allegedly exclaimed that the only way to avoid the inflated 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 while the Commission's investigation meeting was going on, and a newspaper caption at the time reported that the cow, whose name was Bossy, was in search of a congressional owner. And eventually they got the cow out to the building's courtyard and the cow happily she grazed and everybody looked at it, spectators and to this day the protester, who protester who planted her remains unknown and really her of Congress ever claimed her, Oh my goodness, that story, you know, talk about the creativity of Americans, as from the petition our government. There's a million times a million ways that people have come and so I thought you'd be interested in Oh my gosh, absolutely, it's I can't imagine trying to sneak a cow anywhere. Well, and you know, understanding funny, it was a little different time, you know, not many years before that President William Howard Taft had a peck cow at the White House and that peck it was named Pauline, and she lived at the White House from nineteen ten to nineteen thirteen. So you know, we've seen a lot of dogs and cats at the White House, but but I didn't know there was a cow. Well, now you have learned something I know about this podcast that it's too funny. I love it. So I also want to ask you. You're, like you mentioned, this is a place where people can petition the government and it's a working office, like you said, so what happens in there now because it doesn't have you know, all of the like you said, used at the Supreme Court and all these other functions. What happens in there now? Well, now you have the in the center, you have the Capital Dome, which you can picture. You can see the dome is our logo. In the capital itself, there is the Senate Chamber and the House Chamber, which is where they come to deliberate, and there are some offices for the leadership that are in the Capitol itself. They are also is now what we call the Capital Complex, which includes three buildings for congressional offices, for each chamber. So there are three House buildings and three Senate buildings where the members of Congress have their offices and their staff, and they do a number 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 television when there is a dignitary who dies 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, you know, and people come by to pay their respects that and that's where the Declaration of Independence picture and the surrendering, the surrendering the Commission picture is. There's also just outside of the House Chamber is the former House Chamber when it was smaller, which is now called National Statuary Hall, and that hosts a number of statues that each state is entitled to send two statues to the Capitol, and those statues are to be of two individuals who are distinguished in the state. The state chooses them. The only requirement is that they have to be dead, and the statues have to be marble or bronze and again, like I said with the Capital itself, the statues change over time as people's perspective about you know, what is important. Some of the Southern states are in the process of their statue are Confederate generals, and those folks are moving back to this, back to the original state and being replaced by people like Johnny Cash, so a whole different. Mary mclaude Bethune from Florida just came in 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 be about Statuary Hall, so I'm glad you brought that up. It's it's such a little slice of America, you know, a little like you said, it reflects the different values and you know, feelings of each state and it's it's so neat to see them all together like that. Well, and it's fascinating it And just like I talked about, the Capitol itself had to be expanded. The statuary collection is now in a variety of places around the capital, including the relatively new Capitol Visitor Center. Because National Statuary Hall there were so many states and so many statues, they were concerned that the floor would fall in. Oh goodness, that would not be good. You had rows, and so nobody wanted to be 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 is interesting because there is a star in the crypt, which is the geographic center of Washington, DC. Wow, there is an empty tomb there. It was built for to have George Washington's remains there but the capitol and finished till twenty five years died and so his family was like, uh, he's totally fine in Non Vernon, where I suspect you might have preferred Mount Vernon anyway, Well that's what they say. So there is there literally is an empty tomb that there's no one, no one there. But in the crypt are statues from each of the thirteen original colonies. Oh wow, Yeah, that's very cool. I love that. Like you said, it's a museum as well as you know, working office building, and it really just reflects how our country has grown and changed over a 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 and in Statuary Hall and in the rotunda there are velvet ropes, you know, like you would see at a theater or someplace, so that there's a place for the members and staff to walk through, so that the tour the tourists have to you know, allow for a space so they're not sort of continually Excuse me, I'm trying repeating. Yes, yes, And I have had the privilege of being on the little metro station underneath too, which is which is pretty fun. Yes, the the subways that connect the buildings and so yeah, 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 everybody has the opportunity to do, what are some of your favorite things that they should be sure to see? Well, I think that one of the most favorite 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 sky and you'll see the Apotheosis of Washington, which is depiction by Constantino Beauty, who was, as we say, an American by choice. He was an Italian 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 the original colonies. And it is pretty amazing to look at. And then there's a freeze around it that is the freeze of American history. And Bermdi himself died while while while doing it, and it was finished then by another artist, and it is such an amazing depiction that it looks three dimensional, but it'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 thing you get to see is the old Supreme Court chamber, and it is you look at it is very small and you think about the consequential decisions that were made in that small chamber, and it really gives you a sense of history. Now, the Supreme Court has its own building, you know, which is across the street from the Capitol, but it was, you know, very very small facility. And I think it's important for people to recognize the just the fact that these are we elect our leaders and they meet together in a very hands on way. You can also walk by when you're in the crypt and see where you would walk down the stairs if you were going out to your inauguration to be elected president. Wow, that's pretty cool. My favorite thing outside the Capitol is on the atop of the Capitol is the Statue of Freedom. Now, the story of the Statue of Freedom is a great story. It is a bronze statue. 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. You know, I told you that Lincoln was rebuilding the Capitol even during the Civil War. He never gave up. He wanted it to be a symbol of the unity of our country. And there was a lot of debate about whose statue he should go up at the top. You know, some people said, oh, it should be George Washington, and then other people said, we've had enough of George Washington. We need to, you know, have it be what is unique about America. What's unique about Americas that are were dedicated to freedom? And so the Statue of Freedom is a symbolic it's not a human person, it's a you know, And so there was a lot of discussion about how to do that and to what to put in and it was cast in bronze, but it was developed overseas in Italy where the best sculptors were and sent across in pieces and then had to be the reassembled and then cast in bronze here in Bladensburg, Maryland, outside of outside of DC. And the person William Crawford who was doing it had one of his enslaved people, 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 Lincoln issued the freedom for all of the enslaved people in Washington, DC, and so Philip Reed, for the last seven months of working on the Statue of Freedom was paid as a free person. I have goosebumps. Yeah, that is such a wonderful story and it encapsulates so much about the American spirit. It does. That's why you know when you look up and see it, it is really something else. Well, thank you for sharing it with us today and thank you for being here today. This was a great background on how the capital came to be where it is, you know, and why why it's so important and something I think everyone should visit an experience. Absolutely, it is important that our children understand the values of our country. Yeah, those values don't mean that we're always going to agree, but it means we're going to care about this country surviving and showing the way to freedom and inclusion and equality, and that sometimes we say, the Capital is where we come to argue, you know, where we come to debate how to get stuff done. At the end of the day, we find a way to compromise. We do, and that's why the American Experiments indoors exactly and will continue. Well, thank you so much for joining us today. This was just a wonderful episode. Thank you, Amelia, thanks for having me, Thank you for listening. I love to visit historical buildings and really all historical places. 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 a great example of that. As Jane told us, it goes from Thomas Jefferson putting together a compromise just to pick the location, to George Washington, the War 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 opportunity to visit and take a tour and it is just special to be there, and I hope that everyone can have that opportunity. But if you can't get there right now, you can visit the United States Capitol Historical Society at Capital History dot org and there are so many cool videos and other resources that can give you a great introduction and show you around. I hope that you visit, and I hope you love it. Until next time. You can find us at Growing Patriots dot com and at Growing Patriots on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. See you next time. They create us Soldiery Standing, and they thought so we would be America Bandage. This has been a presentation of the FCB podcast Network, where real talk lifts. Visit us online at FCB Podcasts dot com.
