They damn near lost the building. It’s an overwrought metaphor. You’ve heard it before. The Capitol Dome, piercing the Washington, D.C., skyline, is a symbol of democracy. A beacon of freedom throughout the world. The U.S. Capitol is that. But it’s also an office building. A museum. An art gallery. And, the U.S. Capitol is the temple where American history plays out. It all unfolds under the Capitol Dome. Machinations in the building are synthesized with what the rest of the country is going through at any given moment. Debates and legislation about slavery. The first "shot" fired in the Civil War came in the Old Senate chamber as Rep. Preston Brooks, D-S.C., nearly beat to death Sen. Charles Sumner, R-Mass., with a cane.