VOA · U.S. History
Intermediate · B1–B2learner speed6:142018-11-23public domain
The U.S. History series (The Making of a Nation) tells American history from the colonial era onward in VOA Special English: slow speed, limited vocabulary, long-form storytelling. Generations of learners have used this exact series to break through intermediate listening.
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01The United States Capitol is one of the most famous buildings in Washington.
02The Capitol building is also one of the best-known symbols of the U.S.
03government, and it has been around for almost as long.
04The country's first president, George Washington, set the cornerstone for the building in 1793.
05At the time, the country's government was only about five years old, and the capital city was Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania.
06But national leaders were preparing to move the Capitol to the District of Columbia.
07They identified a hill on which to build a new home for the U.S.
08Senate and House of Representatives.
09The area around it was mostly grass, trees, and water.
10In other words, a swamp.
11But the country's leaders imagined that one day it would be crowded with people and buildings.
12And they were right.
13Yet efforts to set up the Capitol building were slow.
14Several architects were asked to work on the project and later dismissed.
15The design of the building kept changing.
16Finally, lawmakers began meeting in one side in 1800 and in the other side in 1807.
17They passed from one side to the other on a wooden walkway.
18Then, in 1814, British troops set fire to the Capitol building.
19Only rain from an unexpected storm put out the fire.
20After the war with the British ended, workers made repairs and began to improve the building.
21They enclosed the center of the Capitol and added a dome on top.
22It was made of wood and covered in copper.
23For some years, improvements to the Capitol were small.
24Running water, then gas lighting.
25But major changes to the country were taking place.
26New states were joining.
27The United States was expanding.
28And more lawmakers needed to meet in the Capitol.
29By 1850, lawmakers agreed that the building was too small.
30Architects and builders set to work again.
31In time, they would double the length of the two sides of the Capitol.
32But the increase caused a new problem.
33Now the dome looked too small.
34However, the nation was facing more serious troubles.
35The southern states were threatening to withdraw from the Union.
36They objected to the power of the federal government, especially its efforts to control, or end, slavery.
37By 1861, the country was fighting a civil war.
38Most work on the Capitol came to a stop.
39At times during the Civil War, the building served as a place for soldiers to sleep, a hospital, and even a place where baked goods were made.
40But even before the war ended, then-President Abraham Lincoln urged that improvements to the Capitol be finished.
41He reportedly said, If people saw work continue on the Capitol, they would accept that the Union would go on.
42In 1863, a formerly enslaved man helped add a statue to the top of the new dome.
43Philip Reed was one of many enslaved workers who had built the Capitol.
44Over the years, they dug the stone, cut pieces of wood, and laid down the bricks, among other jobs.
45Reed was an expert in shaping metal.
46He was able to solve the problem of how to get a large statue out of its plaster cast so it could be forged.
47The figure, called the Statue of Freedom, still stands on top of the Capitol's white iron dome.
48The Civil War ended in 1865.
49As Lincoln hoped, the Union continued, and the Capitol building was slowly modernized.
50Elevators, electric lighting, and more rooms were added.
51In the 20th century, the Capitol was equipped with televisions, computers, and a voting machine.
52And a large visitor center was added so the public can learn more about its history.
53Today, the area around the Capitol is completely different than it was in 1793.
54Washington, D.C.
55is now a major city, and other government buildings stand near the Capitol.
56They include the U.S.
57Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, and even the Voice of America.
58But the Capitol remains the seat of U.S.
59lawmaking and a well-known symbol of the federal government.
60I'm Kelly Jean Kelly.
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