U.S. Capital, U.S. Supreme Court, & Library of Congress
Out of the three buildings, the Library of Congress is my favorite because it is all about learning, growth, and art. It holds so many worlds to be explored plus Jefferson’s books! But all the buildings are works of arts in their own rights.
The U.S. Capital Building is located at the top of the National Mall and across the street is both the U.S. Supreme Court and the Thomas Jefferson building of the Library of Congress (the Library of Congress has several other building around the same area.)
All the buildings are free to visit but all three have areas that you need to book in advance. For example, if you want to see watch Congress and/or the Supreme Count in Session and/or do research in the Library of Congress.
Check the webs sites (listed below) for hours and days opened before heading up. All three open and close earlier then other National Mall attractions. Plus all three are closed Sundays and are subject to be closed for Federal Holidays, weather conditions, special government events or visitors, etc. (Best to check the day of the visit because these could be last minute plans due to a major world events or planned visitors.)
U.S. Capital
The entrance to the U.S. Capital is under the building on the opposite side of the National Mall. But please view the web site before showing up as special events may close the building to visitors for the day or even certain hours.
Advance Reservations are not required but are available for the general tours. The can be made up to 90 days in advance. The security line can be long and it is best to be at least 30 minutes to an hour early to get through security.
The general tour includes visiting the Crypt, the Rotunda, and the National Statuary Hall but it does not include visiting the Senate and House Galleries.
U.S. Residents who wish to see the Senate and/or House Galleries must contact the offices of their Representative or Senators. Many Representatives and Senators have staff led tours for their constituents.
International visitors may inquire about Gallery passes at the House and Senate Appointment Desks at the Capital Visitor Center.
I enjoyed the general tour and had a very small line due to going early in the day and it was very cold out, i.e. there was snow falling. I did not have advance tickets but I was lucky and waited less then 30 minutes for tickets on the general tour.
The tour was about 45 minutes long. One of the rooms, that was part of the tour, was the room that all the Representatives and Senators once worked in. It is was a very small area but then there was less states around back then.
Watch for the 2019 Military Bands free concerts to be playing on the U.S. Capitol west front steps weather permitting. These concerts use to be at the Sylvan Theater next to the Washington Monument. I believe the change is due to the Washington Monument being repaired and updated. So after 2019, check and see if they have switched back.
History Brief
It was not until 1913 that the 17th amendment allowed voters to cast direct votes for the U.S. Senators. Prior to that, the Senators were chosen by State Legislatures.
U.S. Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court is just across the street from the U.S. Capital and is closed all Federal Holidays and weekends. The Supreme Court, in my opinion, is the most powerful branch of government.
Presidents, Senators, and Representatives come and go but Supreme Court Judges are appointed for life or until they retire. The President appoints new Judges but the House and the Senate have to approve them.
Check the court calendar for the cases. From the first Monday in October until late April, the Supreme Court will hear Oral Arguments in two cases at 10 am and 11 am. on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. In mid-May, the Supreme Court Justices takes the bench at 10 am for the release of the orders and opinions. Seats are on a first come first served basis.
As you walk up to the building go to the right or the left to enter. The front door is only for exiting. As you first go in, check with the desk about the tour of the courtroom then go straight to the back of the building pass the statue of John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice, and see the movie about the Supreme Court Building and how the court runs. It runs every 15 minutes and it is enjoyable but the chairs are not.
Check out the two marble and bronze spiral staircase. The only support for them is the overlapping steps and their extensions into the wall. It also has several portraits and bust of current and past Judges and a bit of history. While I was there, they had a lot of exhibits about the first female Judge Sandra Day O’Connor.
The Supreme Court is not going to be like a Perry Mason or LA Law show. By the time a case gets to the Supreme Court, all the discovery has been made. The Supreme Court is there to ensure that the case is constructional.
If your hungry, then they have a great cafe here with sandwiches, a salad bar, and snacks. If your lucky, then you can overhear the different lawyers talking about cases.
Brief History
The Supreme Court is the most powerful branch in the United States government, in my opinion, because they ensure laws are constitutional. But our four fathers never dream that we would have issues such as abortion, women voting, etc. But they did leave us with a Constitution that allowed for items as they came up.
The Justices take laws that pass through the Senate, House, and President; and review them against the Constitution and Amendments to ensure that they are legal. The Justices are basing their opinions on not only the Constitution and Amendments but also, the world that we live in during that moment and on that case.
Most people know of the case of Roe vs Wade in 1973 which the Court ruled 7-2 that the right to privacy under the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment extended to a women’s decision to have an abortion but that this right must be balanced against the state’s interests in regulating abortions. This case created a national debate that is still going on today.
But most people don’t know that the case of Miranda vs Arizona in 1966 which the Court ruled 5-4 held statements made in response to interrogation by a defendant in police custody will be admissible at trail only if the prosecution can show that the defendant was informed of the right to consult with an attorney, the right against self-incrimination before police questioning, and that the defendant not only understood these rights but voluntary waived them.
This case created a significant change on law enforcement and on any person who is has ever been arrested since 1966. Even if you have not been arrested, you can say most, if not all, the Miranda statement from popular television programs. Before this law was passed; many people did not know that they had the right to refuse to talk to police.
In 1819, McCulloch vs Maryland was the about Federal vs State Rights. The Supreme Court held that Congress has the implied powers to establish a national bank. The result was that state government could no longer impose a tax on interstate commerce and the Federal government took control of all the banks in the United States.
The Court affects so much of our lives but we don’t even realize it. But the Court can also change their minds as time goes by for example in 1857, Dred Scott vs Sandford denied citizenship to African American slaves and in 1896, Plessy vs Ferguson upheld “separate but equal” segregation laws but as America change in 1954, Brown vs Board of Education ruled that it was unconstitutional for public schools to be segregated and in 1967, Loving vs Virginia overturned state laws prohibiting interracial marriage.
The U.S. Supreme Courts job is to review cases from lower courts against the Constitution and the Amendments. Although amendments can be added. Congress must ratified it, i.e. get 2/3 majority and sent them to the states for them to be ratified. The 27th amendment was brought to Congress on September 25, 1789 and it was ratified on May 5, 1992. It took 202 years and 223 days to pass. It was to delay laws affecting Congressional salary from taking effect until after the next election of representatives.
Library of Congress-Thomas Jefferson Building
The Thomas Jefferson Building is next to the U.S. Supreme Court and across the street from the U.S. Capital Building. (Note: the Library of Congress also include the James Madison Memorial Building and the John Adams Building which are both close by.) Reading rooms and research center hours.
The Library of Congress also offer several tours of the building which are free. Thomas Jefferson Building Public Tour starts about every hour on the half hour (as of this date). Check in with the ground floor information Desk about availability at least 30 minutes prior to the tour time. Also located on the ground floor is a cell phone station for a quick charge.
I love this building because it is all about learning and books. It is the world’s larges library but some of the books and collection are held off the grounds and have to be brought in on a daily basis.
It has more then 167 million items which includes books and other print items, recordings, photographs, sheet music, and manuscripts which are open to the public to view and research.
The Library of Congress is a bit of a museum as well. My favorite room is the one which holds the original library that Jefferson sold to Congress. A fire took out a lot of the original but the library has replaces most titles. In this room, they have ribbons in the books as to what was the original Jefferson’s collection and those that have been replaces.
The Library tour includes art work, the Giant Bible of Mainz, the Gutenberg Bible, an area for exploring the early America, and many other great exhibits. They have a baseball exhibit at this time but these change. But the greatest thing about this building is the art work painted and/or sculptors on the building. Look up as you walk around the Great Hall.
History
Benjamin Franklin founded the first subscription library in North America in 1731 in Philadelphia as an extension of a discussion group called Junto. Fifty subscribers invested money and promised a yearly membership fee. The reason being that during discussions the group would lack a key piece of factual information and could not conclude the debate without evidence, i.e. books for researching information.
The library became a place for items such as fossils, minerals, rare coins, etc. Plus you could borrow a microscope and/or a telescope. Franklin’s library group became know as the Library Company and served as a the Library of Congress until the national capital was established.
During this time period in history, only the 1% of top families could afford books and libraries were financed with private funds through membership fees and endowments. The library was usually restricted to members with a few allowing nonmember to use the libraries collections such as students.
A single book could cost more then a year salary for a working person. The family bible was the only book that most household owned if even that. Literacy was also a major issue. In the 1950’s, the world wide rate was just over 50% but it is over 85% today. (But in my opinion, it will be dropping again with the emoji taking the place of words. We are traveling back to the Egyptian hieroglyphs as a language.)
The official Library of Congress was established in 1800 for a library of “such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress”. It original held 740 books and a few maps but the British troops burned the building down in 1814.
Retired President Thomas Jefferson offered his personal library as a replacement. Congress purchased 6,487 books for a total of $23,950 which was about $3.70 per book which was very reasonable at the time.
Since then, the Library of Congress has collected books, records, sheet music, and so many other things. It is the place to research anything and everything that has ever been thought about or at least written about. Check out the online catalog.