111th Congress, 2nd Session
Splendid Hall
Growth of a Young Nation
The House of Representatives is composed of popularly elected Members representing districts in each state. These districts are reapportioned every ten years, after the census. Until 1914, Members of the U.S. House of Representatives were the only Federal officials elected directly by the people.
When the Old House Chamber was completed in 1807, there were seventeen states in the Union. Fourteen new states were admitted during the 50 years that the House met here. The size of the House increased from 145 seats, representing seventeen states and three territories, to 241 seats, representing thirty-one states and seven territories.
The rural setting of Washington, D.C. circa 1841 is evident in this view of the Capitol from the northeast. In a July 12, 1812 letter to Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Thomas Jefferson described the Capitol as “worthy of the first temple dedicated to the sovereignty of the people, embellishing with Athenian taste the course of a Nation looking far beyond the range of Athenian destinies.”
The Ascent to the Capitol, William Henry Bartlett, Steel engraving, 1839 Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives
