United States Capitol

The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the United States Congress, the legislative branch of the federal government. It is located on Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Although no longer at the geographic center of the national capital, the U.S. Capitol forms the origin point for the street-numbering system of the district as well as its four quadrants.

This article is about the building. For the group of buildings, see United States Capitol Complex. For the capital city, see Washington, D.C.

United States Capitol

American neoclassic

Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.

United States

38°53′23″N 77°00′32″W / 38.88972°N 77.00889°W / 38.88972; -77.00889

September 18, 1793

1800 (first occupation)
1962 (last extension)

Washington administration

16.5 acres (67,000 m²)^[1]

William Thornton, designer
(see Architect of the Capitol)

December 19, 1960^[2]

Central sections of the present building were completed in 1800. These were partly destroyed in the 1814 Burning of Washington, then were fully restored within five years. The building was enlarged in the 1850s by extending the wings for the chambers for the bicameral legislature, the House of Representatives in the south wing and the Senate in the north wing. The massive dome was completed around 1866 just after the American Civil War. Like the principal buildings of the executive and judicial branches, the Capitol is built in a neoclassical style and has a white exterior. Both its east and west elevations are formally referred to as fronts, although only the east front was intended for the reception of visitors and dignitaries.

On January 30, 1835, what is believed to be the first attempt to kill a sitting President of the United States occurred just outside the United States Capitol. As President was leaving the Capitol out of the East Portico after the funeral of South Carolina Representative Warren R. Davis, Richard Lawrence, an unemployed and deranged housepainter from England, either burst from a crowd or stepped out from hiding behind a column and aimed a pistol at Jackson which misfired. Lawrence then pulled out a second pistol which also misfired. It has since been postulated that the moisture from the humid weather of the day contributed to the double misfiring.^[80] Lawrence was then restrained, with legend saying that Jackson attacked Lawrence with his cane, prompting his aides to restrain him. Others present, including Davy Crockett, restrained and disarmed Lawrence.

Andrew Jackson

On April 23, 1844, then House-Speaker was involved in a physical confrontation on the House floor with Democratic Congressman George O. Rathbun of New York. White was delivering a speech in defense of Senator Henry Clay, the Whig nominee for president in that year's presidential election, and objected to a ruling from the Speaker denying him time to conclude his remarks. When Rathbun told White to be quiet, White confronted him and their disagreement lead to a fistfight between the two with dozens of their colleagues rushing to break up the fight. During the disturbance, an unknown visitor fired a pistol into the crowd, wounding a police officer. Both White and Rathbun subsequently apologized for their actions.^[81]

John White

On July 2, 1915, prior to the United States' entry into , Eric Muenter, also known as Frank Holt, a German professor who wanted to stop American support of the Allies of World War I, exploded a bomb in the reception room of the U.S. Senate. The next morning he tried to assassinate J. P. Morgan Jr., son of the financier, at his home on Long Island, New York. J.P. Morgan's company served as Great Britain's principal U.S. purchasing agent for munitions and other war supplies. In a letter to the Washington Evening Star published after the explosion, Muenter, writing under an assumed name, said he hoped that the detonation would "make enough noise to be heard above the voices that clamor for war".

World War I

In the , Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire on members of Congress from the visitors' gallery, injuring five representatives.

1954 United States Capitol shooting

On March 1, 1971, a bomb exploded on the ground floor of the Capitol, placed by the domestic terrorist group the Weather Underground. They placed the bomb as a demonstration against U.S. involvement in Laos.

far-left

On November 7, 1983, in the , a group called the Armed Resistance Unit claimed responsibility for a bomb that detonated in the lobby outside the office of Senate Minority Leader Robert Byrd.^[82] Six people associated with the John Brown Anti-Klan Committee were later found in contempt of court for refusing to testify about the bombing.^[83] In 1990, three members of the Armed Resistance Unit were convicted of the bombing, which they claimed was in response to the invasion of Grenada.^[84]

1983 United States Senate bombing

In the , Russell Eugene Weston Jr. burst into the Capitol and opened fire, killing two Capitol Police officers, Officer Jacob Chestnut and Det. John Gibson.

1998 United States Capitol shooting

The Capitol on a 1922 U.S. postage stamp

The west front of the Capitol depicted on the reverse of the current $50 bill

A snowball fight on the Capitol lawn, 1923

House of Representatives pediment, Apotheosis of Democracy, by Paul Wayland Bartlett, 1916

The Genius of America pediment, East Portico, carved by Bruno Mankowski 1959–60 (after Luigi Persico's 1825–1828 original)

The Capitol appears on the reverse of the 1989 Congress Bicentennial commemorative half dollar

The Capitol at night in 2006

The Capitol following a blizzard in 2010

The Capitol and reflecting pool

The Capitol's west front during the Inauguration of Joe Biden, January 20, 2021

by Paul Wayland Bartlett, a pediment on the east front of the House of Representatives Portico

Apotheosis of Democracy

Congressional Prayer Room

secret offices used by members of the Senate

Hideaways

History of modern period domes

List of capitols in the United States

List of legislative buildings

List of the oldest buildings in Washington, D.C.

an ornate office sometimes used by the President

President's Room

which pictures the Capitol on the back

United States fifty-dollar bill

Vice President's Room

Washington's Tomb

Architecture of Washington, D.C.

Allen, William C. (2001). . Government Printing Office. ISBN 0160508304. OCLC 46420177. Archived from the original on April 23, 2002. Retrieved October 29, 2016.

History of the United States Capitol – A Chronicle of Design, Construction, and Politics

Brown, Glenn (1998). Architect of the Capitol for The United States Capitol Preservation Commission (ed.). (Annotated Edition in Commemoration of The Bicentennial of the United States Capitol ed.). Government Printing Office. Archived from the original on December 7, 2008.

History of the United States Capitol

Frary, Ihna Thayer (1969). . Ayer Publishing. ISBN 0-8369-5089-5.

They Built the Capitol

Guy Gugliotta (2012). . Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-8090-4681-2.

Freedom's Cap: The United States Capitol and the Coming of the Civil War

Hazelton, George Cochrane (1907). . J. F. Taylor & Co.

The National Capitol

Fryd, Vivien Green (1987). In American Art Journal (Vol. 19, pp. 16–39).

Two Sculptures for the Capitol: Horatio Greenough's "Rescue" and Luigi Persico's "Discovery of America."

Aikman, Lonnelle. We, the People: the Story of the United States Capitol, Its Past and Its Promise. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Capitol Historical Society, in cooperation with the National Geographic Society, 1964.

Bordewich, Fergus M. (December 2008). . Smithsonian Magazine.

"A Capitol Vision From a Self-Taught Architect"

Ovason, David, , New York City, New York: HarperCollins, 2000. ISBN 0-06-019537-1

The Secret Architecture of our Nation's Capital: the Masons and the building of Washington, D.C.

Geographic data related to at OpenStreetMap

United States Capitol

Official website

Capitol Visitors Center

United States Capitol Historical Society

Architect of the Capitol

Archived April 17, 2007, at the Wayback Machine

Capitol History Project

Library of Congress

Temple of Liberty: Building the Capitol for a New Nation

U.S. Capitol Police

C-SPAN, March 20, 2012

"Book Discussion on Freedom's Cap"

. Held by the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.

United States Capitol