continued… The next exhibit was about more general early US government history. It started by explaining that the fledgling nation’s founding framework was the Articles of Confederation, enacted in 1781. And it explained why they were replaced in 1789 with a revolutionary new idea that had never been tried before — the Constitution. It explained how the Great Compromise led to a balance of power between three branches of government so the federal government couldn’t become tyrannical, and also ensured no state could have too much power over the others. An addendum called the Bill of Rights was added with a list of amendments to the Constitution which protected individual liberties. Interestingly, the author of the Bill of Rights, James Madison, didn’t think it was necessary, but realized that the anti-Federalists wouldn’t support the Constitution without individual rights explicitly laid out. The Constitution states that federal laws and treaties take precedence over state laws.

The House of Representative proceedings were open to the press and general public from the inception of Congress in 1789, but the Senate met in private. After the states complained, the Senate was prompted to open its doors — for the most part — in 1795. They still met in private about matters considered too sensitive for the public, including presidential nominations and foreign treaties.

continued… The next exhibit was about the building itself. As we had briefly mentioned earlier, the original structure was planned in 1791, construction started in 1793, and was completed in early 1800s… when the country had 16 states and 5.5-million people. By 1850, there were 32 states and the population had exploded to 23-million. Both the House and Senate had outgrown their chambers, so they decided to add grand extensions onto the original wings. The House moved into its new chambers in 1857, and the Senate moved into theirs in 1859. The old dome was replaced with the current dome as a part of this expansion project. By the beginning of the 20th century, the legislators ran out of space yet again. The first House and Senate office buildings were opened across the street in 1908 and 1909, respectively.

Fun fact: Originally, the name for the building was going to be Congress House, but then-Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson insisted on Capitol, wanting the gravitas of Ancient Rome’s Republic and its Capitoline Hill.

The display about the dome gave a lot of details about the structure. Architectural enthusiasts would probably find the display fascinating as it was something of an engineering feat. We found this model of the dome to be a clever and unique presentation format.

It was cool to be able to peer inside the model to see what it looked like on the inside when standing on the ledge between the friezes and octagonal panels.