it did not have to come out the way it did. lots of other things had to do with it. but this one little piece of the puzzle was very important in the timing of the end of the civil war. if you want to remember this way, you can remember that -- one thing to remember is that early was one day late. early was late. >> this uses that is exploring american history. a recent look at des moines, iowa. you are watching american

history tv on c-span3. >> the first capitol building for the state of iowa would be in iowa city. the state became a state in 1846. the capital was in iowa city. we moved to des moines in 1857. we chose it because of the central location. when we came here in 1857, the building was not built yet. we use the building across the street called the old brick capital. we used it as the city government well building this building. the capitol was built from 1871-1886. it was dedicated in 1874 and has been in use since then. this is the highest point in des moines.

it is where the glaciers stopped. a created a very large hill here on the east side of the river. it was given to the state of iowa by people. they donated 10 acres to the state of iowa. the purpose was to build the capitol here. the dome is the most noticeable part. there's not a location where you do not notice the dome rising up. we are the only capitol that has five domes. the largest is 275 feet tall. it is covered with real gold. we are one of 10 gold dome capitals. is 80ne is -- the dome feet in diameter. the largest is 275 feet tall. from the inside, you see 219

feet. as is common with a lot of domes, you have an interior and exterior wall. that is so you can decorate the interior area. there is a lot of empty space in the dome. the gilding will last a long time. i know that is difficult for people to understand. that thin layer of gold will last so long. but it is more durable than anything we could put up there. we could paint the dome, but it would need to be painted every year or two. the gold will last 30 years. it is more economical to cover the dome with gold. we could leave it copper, which is what the other four domes are covered with. underneath the gold, there is copper. but the copper oxidizes. the green runs onto the stone of the capitol building. it is very destructive. it helps to preserve the stone to covered with gold.

you have doing it is very striking -- you have to admit it is very striking. the first time the gold was put on the dome, we spent $3500 including labor. by the time we got to 1999, the cost had risen to $482,000. $160,000 paid for the gold and the rest for the labor. we are in the senate chamber on the second floor. it occupies the south quarter of the capitol building. we have 50 senators in iowa. each is elected to serve a four-year term. we have a part-time legislature here in iowa. that means they are hearing the

-- here in the capitol building working for months of the year. when their work is done, they go back to wherever they live in the state. almost all of them go back to work at their regular jobs. we have senators who are veterinarians, doctors. they may work for an insurance company or bank. anything you can imagine doing for ages living, our elected officials do. you have republicans on one side of the aisle, democrats on the other side. if we have more than 25 of either, they would fall over to the opposite side of the aisle. right now we have a democratic majority in our senate. the democrats have the majority here by just a couple of votes. they would sit here on the left side of the chamber. the republicans would sit on the right side of the chamber. the furnishings are original

furnishings. the room has seen very little changes through the years. it is one of the few places that the decorative painting was never painted over. when you look at the ceiling, you are looking at a ceiling painted in 1883. it has never been painted over. it was done by an artist who did a lot of work in our building. he did the senate chamber, the house of representatives, the law library. all his work is gone now. it was either painted over or destroyed by the fire. this is the only original work we have by him. you're also looking at original gas chandeliers converted to a z. when the capitol building was converted to electricity. the capitol building was built, it did not have electricity. when the building was converted, we took the gas chandeliers down and threw them away.

these are original gas chandeliers. they weigh 500 pounds each. we are in the house of the representatives, the north corridor of the building. the house is made up of 100 members. each member is elected to serve a two-year term in the house. we elect the entire house of representatives every time we have an election. every member must run for reelection. in the house chamber, a lot of similarities to the senate. they are here at the same time of year and talking about the same bills. they are paid the same amount of money. senators and representatives make approximately $25,000 per year. the house chamber is different if you look at the design in the room.

that is because we had a fire at this end of the building. the fire was in january of 1904. we were changing from gaslight to electric lights. electricians had been hired to run electrical lines through the building. they were working inside by candlelight. one of the workmen left the work area and left a candle burning. that is how the fire started. the ceiling in this room collapsed. we had to rebuild the ceiling.'y to make it look like it had looked before. we built a new ceiling because we needed to use the room. because of this, it looks different than the rest of the building. you will find a very different design.

in the senate chamber, a lot of color and patterns -- here, there are neutral colors. also a lot of goldleaf. it was very popular at that time. that is the only explanation i can give you. the areas we done after the fire contained goldleaf. the same thin layer we found on the outside of our dome. it is applied the same way. it has to be done by hand. it is glued onto the service, both outside and inside. we are in the law library on the second floor of the capitol building. the west side of the building now. the law library takes up the whole west side of the capitol from the second and third floors. it contains about 100,000 lawbooks. is open to the public. anyone is allowed to come here

and use the books. you have to be a lawyer or elected official if you want to check a book out. the five different levels are lined by iron railings. the staircases are the only access to the levels. the staircases are accessible to the librarians. the general public would tell the librarian what they need, and the librarian would get it for them. we have a original tile floors. the ceiling has been restored to look like what it looked like in the 1880's. chandeliers are reproduction lights. that was done in the 1990's and early 2000's. we did a lot of restoration work here in the capitol. when they were building the capitol, this room was designed to be only half as tall as it is now.

the commissioners in charge of building the building traveled to michigan. they took a look at the library and said, tear out the ceiling in place. we want you library to go to stories tall rather than just one -- we want the library to go to bank stories -- we went to library to be two stories rather than one. the evidence of what this building was designed after in michigan is gone now. we do have a remarkable special collection here in the law library. we have a collection of old english law. that you would not find in most libraries throughout the world. the law librarians are very proud of that collection. we also have an original card

catalog here in the library. that is how we found the books in the library. most of us 50 years old remember using the card catalog. now it is done by computer. but the card catalog will stay in the room. it is not updated any longer, but it would have been here originally. the library is organized by the harvard system. there are systems for organizing legal libraries. we use the harvard system. that's why the librarians are so crucial. they are the only ones who know exactly where the books are located. even with the card catalog, the computer system, when you come in this library, that system does not help you locate a book. you are at the mercy of the librarians to tell them what you want. ♪

we are in the rotunda on the second floor of the capitol. you will see the large mural westward. it is to symbolize the pioneers as they moved from civilization into the wilderness in the west. it was done in 1905. the mural is 40 feet long and 14 feet high. you will notice to the left-hand side of the painting, you see a desolate area. that represents the prairie. the unknown. on the rights of the narrow, you will notice you are looking at plowed fields, planted crops. and there are faces painted into the stalks of corn.

those represent the man who would come after the pioneers. the woman in the center, the model for that person was named jessica. she was one of those unbelievable success stories that came out of iowa. it would be like an iowa girl going and becoming the most famous model in the world. that is what became of her. she modeled for tons of artist. she was a beautiful girl. she did a great deal for modeling when she was young. she would have been in her teens. if you're really look at the face and commit it to memory, if you ever go to wisconsin, in their general assembly chamber, they have a large mural. you will go that is her.

he used her again and again. she was a very famous person. she died when she was, i want to say late 40's, early 50's, and she died penniless. i hope they walk away with an appreciation for the beauty of the building. we have a beautiful capitol building. not just architecturally, but the decoration. i hope they walk away with the sense the building is being used what it was intended for. it is still the seat of government for iowa. it is a functional, useful building. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

>> our local content vehicles team traveled there. learn more about des moines and other cities on our two or at c-span.com/local comment -- local content. >> a generation has passed since the death of the engineer who was better at organizing armies then leading them to victory. that a fair assumption roosevelt, who chairs to ring that held a lock of lincoln's hair, felt no euro worship for mcclellan. worship for mcclellan. he ran against lincoln. he lost the election, but mcclellan remained popular with this man. after his death, it was old

senators that lobbied for this 14 foot statue on washington's connecticut avenue. the creation of an american ex-pat living in paris, a protége of a famous sculptor, it was without a doubt one of the most dashing men on horseback in the city. a century of exposure to the elements, including air pollution and bird droppings left the bronze warrior in desperate need of repair. recently, power washed and coated in protective wax, and restored to its original copper green hue, he sits ramrod straight atop his mount, his gaze fixed southward. while the traffic swirls around his bivouac. >> john quincy adams was the second adams to be elected to

the white house. second auditor to be elected to the white house. twoas only one of antislavery presidents. he was deeply feared by the south. vision of ahat his unified country, and which the federal government and the states were partners in a relationship that enabled the federal government to play a leading role in binding the country together through infrastructure projects, supporting manufacturing and so on. he was deeply suspected by the -- deeplyes whose. suspected by the southern states.

>> fred kaplan, on the life of john quincy adams. tonight on c-span's q&a. american history tv, historians and park officials discussed the development of washed and he sees civil war forts. their role in the war, and how they have been preserved for the past 150 years. these earthen defenses, especially for stevens, were vital in keeping the nation's capital under union control during the war. the event, cohosted by national archives, and the national capital planning council, is about one hour. >> [applause] >> good afternoon and thank you for hosting us as we look at the fascinating look into washington's civil war history. let me add my welcome to everyone in attendance and

watching online. the commission's role as the planning agency in the suburbs of virginia and maryland, we seek to protect and enhance the rich historic and cultural resources, which includes the parks. the planning commission recently celebrated 90 years since our organization was chartered by congress. one note is that one of our early responsibilities involved in acquiring the property that has become fort circle parks. in terms of what we do, i would like to mention one project, one relevant to the national archives. we started work on the pennsylvania avenue initiative. we are working with the general services administration and the national park service to study the near and long-term need