Audio Transcript Auto-generated
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All right, everyone, welcome to our answer around for capital
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games. Our latest round of quarantine quiz.
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Oh, of course.
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Right now the American people want answers.
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I don't have the answers that you perhaps most want,
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but I do have the answers for today's game.
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Let's go through and take a look at our answers
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for the latest round of quarantine Quiz.
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Oh, question one.
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Who had the honor of laying the cornerstone for the
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nation's capital?
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That would be George Washington.
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Of course.
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Washington was the only president who never served in Washington
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since he was about 20 years old.
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He had been a member of the Masons.
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Hey joined a Masonic lodge in Fredericksburg at the age
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of 20 on.
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By the time he was president, he was master of
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the Alexandria Lodge Lodge 22 in Virginia, and this was
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one of the lodges that participated in the ground, breaking
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the cornerstone laying of the nation's capital.
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When I questioned to, you know.
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Now we're familiar with the burning of the capital by
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British soldiers in 18 14, but in some aspects they
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may have been retaliating for the American burning of the
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capital of Canada.
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or, at that point, the province of Upper Canada.
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Eso it is.
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In August of 18 14 August 24th, the British do
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invade Washington and burned portions of the White House and
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the Capitol.
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As you can see from this picture here, the building
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at that point had North and South wings, but the
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center was still under construction at the time.
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The building was, of course, home to the United States
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Senate, the House of Representatives and the United States Supreme
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Court. On right above the Supreme Court was the Library
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of Congress, and some 3000 books served as fuel for
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the fire that the British set.
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Ultimately, the Library of Congress would have to be replaced,
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and ex President Jefferson offered to pay or offered to
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sell number of his books at that when he had
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a personal collection of between nine and 10,000 books.
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And ultimately, Congress would buy 6487 of Jefferson's books, paying
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him a total of $23,950.
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So now, of course, the capital needs to be rebuilt,
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and Boston architect Charles Bull Finch would help to sort
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of serve as the chief architect, Hey helps to rebuild
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the building and also includes the trademark Capitol Dome Theory
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Journal. Dome was constructed of wood and covered by copper
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Bull Finch work from 18 19 until 18 29 on
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we see here this thing Gara type, which was taken
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from around 18 40 who is believed to be one
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of the earliest images of the capital on days during
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these years that the capital is upgraded Running water is
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that it in 18 32 on gaslighting was added around
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the mid 18 forties.
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But by the time we get to 18 50 of
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course, this is the era of manifest destiny.
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We're adding new states and territories on so many new
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members of Congress had come in by 18 50 that
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the capital was no longer big enough to accommodate.
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So it was determined by about 18 50.
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Millard Fillmore was the president who signed the expansion into
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law. Three capital would need to be expanded.
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Which brings us to our next question.
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During the 18 fifties, which infamous secretary of War served
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as sort of head of construction, overseeing the expansion of
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the capital, and that would be future Confederate President Jefferson
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Davis. Under Davis's watch during the 18 fifties, the building
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is expanded by adding north and South Wings, with House
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would occupy the South Wing beginning in 18 57 and
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the Senate would occupy the North Wing beginning in 18
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59. It also included a new dome, which would be
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topped with the Statue of Freedom.
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And we see plans for the Statue of Freedom on
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the right over there.
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Um, but in that era, typically, such a statue would
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come with a Liberty cat, the symbol for emancipated Roman
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slaves. The design had to be approved by Davis, who
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objected to the presence of a Liberty cap stating its
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history renders it inappropriate to a people who were born
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free and should not have been enslaved.
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Davis would ultimately approved the Statue of Freedom without the
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presence of Liberty Cat.
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The statue stands about 19.5 ft tall in ways about
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£15,000. So with the expansion of the capital to include
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the new wings for the House and the Senate, um,
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the old parts of the building would be repurposed and
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the old house chamber would eventually become known as something
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that, of course, we saw on the news last week.
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Today it is known as Statuary Hall.
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And you know, there was so much history that occurred
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in the old House chamber, among others, that served as
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the site of the inauguration for President Madison, Monroe, Quincy
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Adams, Jackson and Fillmore on in 1918 24.
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In this space, the Marquis de Lafayette became the first
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foreign citizen to address Congress.
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Beginning in 18, 64 states were allowed.
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Thio provide statues.
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Once the area was interpreted to become a room for
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artwork, Each state was allowed to send up to two
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statues to occupy Statuary Hall on overtime.
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Statues have to the point now.
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We have so many statues, they can't all be displayed
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in Statuary Hall on def.
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You go on toe Capitals website, you can see they
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have a whole list of statues that they have.
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Some are kept in the crypt, others in various spots.
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But there are a list of statues that air in
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Statuary Hall today.
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Um, some usual suspects.
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There's a statue of Henry Clay there.
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Daniel Webster, Chief standing bear has a statue there.
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Um, interestingly, two of the statues that, according to their
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records, are currently on display in Statuary Hall are statues
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of Jefferson Davis and Alexander Stevens.
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Of course, the president and vice president of the Confederacy,
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now moving from inside the building to outside the East
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Portico of the capital, was the site of the first
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attempted presidential assassination when Richard Lawrence targeted which president that
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president was, in fact, Andrew Jackson.
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Uh, this is 18 35.
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Jackson was on the East Portico, attending the funeral of
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South Carolina representative Warren Davis.
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Richard Lawrence, who was a house painter from England, was
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the attempted assailant.
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By the early 18 thirties, Lawrence's health had begun to
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deteriorate, and apparently he had come to the conclusion that
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he was actually King Richard, the third of England.
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And according to his title, the US owed him a
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great deal of money.
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Jackson, of course, by this point, was engaged in his
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bank war with the United States Treasury on Dhe.
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Lawrence came to believe that it was Jackson's presidency that
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was keeping the United States from paying him the large
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amount of money that the country owed him.
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Um, Lawrence attempts to assassinate Jackson.
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He has two pistols, which related both determined to be
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subject to malfunction when the weather was wet.
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As it was on that day in January, both of
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Lawrence pistols misfired.
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The 70 year old Jackson attempts to beat Lawrence with
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his cane.
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Lawrence is arrested and will be put on trial.
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Three Prosecuting attorney was none other than Francis Scott Key
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on It took the jury all of five minutes to
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render a verdict that Lawrence was not guilty by reason
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of insanity.
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Eso Lawrence would be committed for the rest of his
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life until he passed away on June 13th, 18 61.
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All right, so I'm moving on to our next question.
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Back inside the Capitol, the Voting Rights Act of 1965
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was signed by President Lyndon Johnson.
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In which Room of the Capitol?
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Well, this was news to me, too.
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There is a room in the Capitol known as the
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President's Room.
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This is one of the most ornately decorated rooms in
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the capital, and it was part of the 18 59
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expansion to the Senate wing.
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This room was intended to symbolize the Senate's responsibility to
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provide advice and consent to the president, and traditionally presidents
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would use that room to sign legislation that was passed
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to the end of each Senate term.
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Um, nearly every president since Reagan has begun their presidency
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was sort of a ceremonial visit to this room.
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The last substantial piece of legislation that was signed in
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the room was the Voting Rights Act in 1965 signed
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by President Lyndon Johnson on another note.
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This room has also been used as an office by
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the chief justice of the Supreme Court when presiding over
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impeachment trials.
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Justice Rehnquist used the room during Clinton's impeachment on Justice.
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Roberts used this room as an office during the impeachment
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of President Trump 13 months ago.
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Eso will that room see more action soon remains to
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be seen.
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Um, notably the chandelier that you see there is the
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Onley gas burning chandelier that's still around in the Capitol
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building. There was a gas explosion in 18 98 on
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as such, most of the gas Chanda leers were removed
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from the capital.
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This one, however, was kept on.
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Dhe was electrifying.
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Um, that's the only old chandelier from the gaslighting era
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that's still in the Capitol building.
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All right, so moving on to our next question, again
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sticking in the Senate chamber.
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It is also decorated by busts of people who have
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held this office.
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The office of president of the Senate, also known as
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the vice president.
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Eso. In 18 86 there was a resolution that commissioned
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busts of several vice presidents of the United States to
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fill niches in the Senate chamber.
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On the initial five busts were of vice presidents John
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Adams, Thomas Jefferson on then Hannibal Hamlin, William Wheeler and
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Chester Arthur, the three living former vice presidents at the
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time. Over time, that collection has been expanded to include
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busts of every vice president.
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Um, today there are 20 busts that are located within
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the Senate chamber.
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The bust of Ulysses S.
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Grant's vice president, Henry Wilson, is in the vice president's
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private office.
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Then the others were dispersed around the sentence.
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The Senate's second floor corridors Ah, nde, every vice president.
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I think they're still working on some of the more
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recent ones.
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Al Gore's bust and Biden's bus and so on.
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Um, but between Aaron Burr, Elbridge Gerry, John Calhoun, Andrew
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Johnson, Um, all the vice president's, the good, the bad
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and the ugly are represented.
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Um, so we have some of this whole collection of
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vice presidential busts.
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All right now, typically, people are encouraged to visit the
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Capitol building under normal circumstances.
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Andan Approximately How many visitors attend the nation's capital every
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year? Well, the capital Salt Peak visitation about 345 years
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ago in the mid 20 tens, where roughly three million
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people every year we're visiting the nation's capital.
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And a lot of that had to do with a
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massive reconstruction project that occurred during the two thousands to
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build the Capitol Visitors Center.
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The CBC Um, this construction project eventually lasted eight years,
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wrapping up in 2008 at a cost of $621 million.
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Um, you see up in the top left there, that
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is the entrance to the visitor center.
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It's entirely underground, you see, sort of the aerial view
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there it was constructed underground so as not to disrupt
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the scenic looking area on the Mall around the capital.
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But it has its handicap accessible.
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It's got two gift shops, a 530 seat food court
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and say, well, exhibit space is their main hall.
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Is Noah's emancipation Hall on.
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It's got a full time line of American history, and
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then videos sort of along lines of freedom rising except
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about the history of Congress and about the Capitol building.
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Eso people who are going to tours of the Capitol
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would enter through the Visitors Center, which I think it's
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like 540,000 square feet, especially three quarters the size of
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the Capitol building itself.
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Now, lastly, one of the things that you would learn
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on a tour if you were going through the capital
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would be who is buried in the capital crypt, which
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is located just below the rotunda.
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The answer to that question is, in fact, no one.
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No one is buried in the capital crypt, and this
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area below the rotunda was not designed to be a
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crypt. Um 17 97 plan for the capital refers to
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the space as the grand vestibule.
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But when George Washington died in December of 17 99
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Congress made plans to honor him and Martha with a
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spot in the capital.
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Of course, Washington's will stipulated that he and Martha would
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remain at Mount Vernon.
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Eso no one is actually buried in the capital crypt,
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although it is used sort of a storage space, and
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several of the statues that are not displayed in Statuary
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Hall are kept down in the crypt.
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Alright, everyone's that concludes our capital games.
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Thank you very much for joining in.
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I hope everyone is doing well, keeping in touch with
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everything that's going on on.
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We look forward to seeing you soon for our next
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game of quiz.
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Oh, thanks a lot.
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Everyone take care and talk to you soon.