Watch Ken Burns America online: Episode 5 The Congress

This portrait of the United States Congress explores the history and promise of one of the country’s most important and least understood institutions. It tells the story of the Capitol building itself – including its burning by the British in the War of 1812 and its completion in the midst of the Civil War – and chronicles the extraordinary personalities, events and issues that have animated the first 200 years of Congress and, in turn, the country.

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