Timeline of violent incidents at the United States Capitol
The United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., became the meeting place of the United States Congress when the building was initially completed in 1800. Since that time, there have been many violent and dangerous incidents, including shootings, fistfights, bombings, poisonings and a major riot.
The first significant incident was an act of war. During the War of 1812, the building was burned and severely damaged by British military forces in 1814, and then rebuilt. Other incidents were motivated by insanity, racism, fanaticism, extremism and personal grudges, and affected the Capitol building itself and sometimes other parts of the United States Capitol Complex. This timeline also includes incidents in which violence at the Capitol was only threatened, yet sufficient to disrupt normal procedures.19th century
August 24, 1814
During the War of 1812, British forces briefly took control of Washington on August 24, 1814. They set fires throughout the Capitol, and also burned the White House, the headquarters of both the War Department and the Treasury Department. Within the Capitol, British troops built bonfires in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives and the clerk's offices. They also set fires in the U.S. Supreme Court chamber and the Library of Congress, both of which were located in the Capitol at that time. The building had wooden floors and interior walls that helped spread the flames. Less than 24 hours later, a severe rainstorm put out the fires. Although the Capitol was gutted, the exterior stone walls survived, and the building was reconstructed and improved. It took five years until Congress reconvened at the Capitol. The attack was, at least in part, retaliation for American attacks in Canada, such as the Battle of York, which began on April 27, 1813, and that included the burning of the British colonial government buildings. Other US attacks included the Raid on Port Dover from May 14 to May 16, 1814; which included the burning of houses, flour mills, sawmills, distilleries, and barns. Reconstruction of the Capitol was planned and supervised by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, who was the second Architect of the Capitol.April 1828
At a White House reception during the John Quincy Adams presidency, Russell Jarvis, an anti-Adams reporter for the Washington Daily Telegraph, a Jacksonian newspaper, asserted that President Adams had publicly insulted Mrs. Jarvis, although Adams had criticized Jarvis himself. Since the president was considered to be immune from a dueling challenge, Jarvis attempted to initiate a duel with John Adams II, the president's son and personal secretary, who had been at the reception. Jarvis's efforts to provoke a duel with the younger Adams led to a highly publicized fight in the Capitol Rotunda. Jarvis struck Adams in the face and pulled his hair and grabbed his nose. Adams disapproved of dueling and non-violently refused to retaliate. An investigating committee of the United States House of Representatives determined that Jarvis had initiated the attack, but took no other action against Jarvis. Adams was cross examined by a hostile House staffer and castigated in much of the popular press as a coward. The incident led to the founding of the United States Capitol Police in response to a message from President Adams "requesting that Congress provide funds to secure the way between the president's office and Congress so that future incidents could be prevented." The police force was established
by a law passed on May 2, 1828.January 30, 1835
was a British immigrant working as a house painter in and around Washington. In the early 1830s, his mental health deteriorated severely. He became convinced that he was actually King Richard III of England, that the U.S. government owed him a large sum of money, and that President Andrew Jackson was withholding his money and preventing him from returning to England.
Lawrence began observing Jackson's movements. He learned that Jackson was planning to attend the funeral of Congressman Warren R. Davis at the Capitol on January 30, 1835. Lawrence positioned himself at a spot just outside a door to the Capitol that he knew Jackson would exit through. When he saw Jackson, he tried to shoot him twice with a Derringer pistol, but his weapon misfired. Jackson fought back with a cane, and members of the crowd accompanying Jackson, which included Davy Crockett, then also a member of Congress, wrestled Lawrence to the ground, and he was arrested. Jackson was convinced that Lawrence was a tool of his opponents in the political Bank War about the future of the Second Bank of the United States. This was the first assassination attempt against a U.S. president. After a brief trial that included testimony about his mental state, Lawrence was found not guilty by reason of insanity and spent the rest of his life in insane asylums.April 17, 1850
In early 1850, the Senate was involved in bitter debates about the future of the western territories that had been acquired as a result of the U.S. victory in the Mexican–American War. The issues included the boundaries of Texas, the admission of California to the union, and which territories would permit slavery. Henry S. Foote was a pro-slavery senator, and Thomas Hart Benton, the longest-serving senator, had previously supported slavery but had later repudiated it. The two men despised each other and had frequently exchanged insults. During debate on April 17, 1850, about negotiating a compromise, Foote offered a motion to refer the matter to a special committee of 13 senators. Benton offered an amendment that undercut Foote's motion, and Vice President Millard Fillmore acting as presiding officer, ruled Benton's motion in order. Senator Henry Clay angrily objected to Fillmore's ruling, saying that it exceeded his authority, and a bitter debate among senators followed, with Foote and Benton shouting insults. Benton, a much larger man, left his seat and advanced toward Foote, who stood up, pulled out a pistol, and cocked it. Benton shouted, "I have no pistols! Let him fire! Stand out of the way and let the assassin fire!" Foote allowed another Senator to take his pistol while Benton demanded to be searched to prove that he was unarmed. The Senate quickly adjourned for the day. The Compromise of 1850 was finally enacted in September of that year.May 22, 1856
According to historian Joanne B. Freeman, there were about 70 incidents of violence between members of Congress between 1830 and 1860, mostly related to disputes about slavery. The most famous such incident of the era occurred on May 22, 1856. Abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner had delivered a forceful anti-slavery speech called "Crime against Kansas" two days before, during which he insulted pro-slavery Senator Andrew Butler. Sumner was sitting at his desk when he was approached by pro-slavery Congressman Preston Brooks, a cousin of Butler. Brooks shouted at Sumner, and hit him over the head with a cane at least a dozen times, leaving him bloody and severely injured. Pro-slavery Congressman Laurence M. Keitt stood by with a pistol and his cane to prevent other senators from coming to Sumner's assistance. It took Sumner three years to recover from his injuries, and he suffered from pain and trauma for the rest of his life. Brooks and Keitt resigned but were both re-elected. Sumner received great sympathy and support in the northern states, and Brooks was acclaimed in the southern states, and the incident contributed to regional polarization.February 6, 1858
On the evening of February 5, 1858 and into the early morning hours of February 6, the House of Representatives was debating the Lecompton Constitution, which was the second of four proposed constitutions for what became the new free state of Kansas three years later. This was an overtly pro-slavery draft with several provisions that also would have denied basic human rights to free people of color. At 2:00 a.m., antislavery Republican member Galusha Grow and pro-slavery Democrat Laurence M. Keitt insulted each other and then entered into a fistfight. About 30 other members joined in the brawl. Abolitionist Republicans Cadwallader Washburn and John F. Potter tore a wig off the head of Democrat William Barksdale, a slave owner who later became a Confederate general. Speaker of the House James Lawrence Orr ordered the sergeant-at-arms to arrest any members who continued fighting and the brawl died down. Two days later, the Lecompton Constitution was defeated.February 13, 1861
A mob tried to break into the Capitol to disrupt the electoral vote count following the 1860 United States presidential election. Capitol security blocked their entry because they lacked proper credentials. Instead, the mob stood outside yelling insults at General Winfield Scott who headed the Capitol's security force. The mob's epithets included "Free state pimp!", "Old dotard!" and "Traitor to the state of his birth!". Contemporaneous accounts described the crowd as "a caldron of inflammable material" intent upon "revolution".July 11–12, 1864
During the American Civil War, one year and one week after the Confederate loss at the Battle of Gettysburg, Confederate General Jubal Early and the corps he commanded within the Army of Northern Virginia came within six miles of capturing the Capitol Building. From his position in Maryland, General Early could see the Capitol in the distance. Union forces held lengthy meetings, to figure out how they could defend the city from Early's troops. Assistant Secretary of War Charles Dana sent a telegraph message to General Ulysses S. Grant: "General Halleck will not give orders except as he receives them; the President will give none, and until you direct positively and explicitly what is to be done, everything will go on in the deplorable and fatal way in which it has gone on for the past week." President Lincoln arrived at Fort Stevens and was told to take cover after he came under fire. In the leading federal brigade, every regimental commander was shot, and hundreds died on the Confederate side. General Early later wrote, "I had, therefore, reluctantly to give up all hopes of capturing Washington, after I had arrived in sight of the dome of the Capitol."