In 1792, Pierre Charles L'Enfant, who brought inspired definition to the vision of the new nation's capital, was unceremoniously fired.

L'Enfant was brilliant, but difficult.

After a year of his temperamental and combative behavior, he had become too much.

So George Washington allowed his friend to be dismissed.

So George Washington allowed his friend to be dismissed.

Now the responsibility fell to master surveyor Andrew Ellicott, who reluctantly stepped up as the new project manager.

Ellicott was tasked with completing this effort: a real challenge, since L'Enfant walked away with the drawings of his design.

To add to Ellicott's challenges, the commissioners had become impatient with all of it and wanted to see real, immediate progress.

Ellicott became so stressed by the commissioner's constant demands that he wrote his wife Sarah on April 18th, 1792: - [Ellicott] My time here is passed heavily on.

I shall endeavor to do my duty, but many difficulties have arisen between proprietors and commissioners, which add much to my embarrassment.

- [Narrator] Despite mounting problems, Ellicott managed to keep the project moving forward, thanks in large part to astronomer and surveyor Benjamin Banneker.

Banneker used his photographic memory to recreate key portions of L'Enfant's plans, since the original drawings were no longer available.

Even with L'Enfant's vision preserved, one big question remained: what would define this new capital city?

For George Washington, that was always clear.

The heart of the city, the symbol of its authority, would be the people's meeting place: the United States Capitol.

There was one problem.

L'Enfant never left behind a design for the Capitol Building.

So Washington, along with the commissioners, and encouraged by Thomas Jefferson, made a bold decision.

If the vision wouldn't come from one man, maybe it could come from many.

A national competition was launched, inviting ideas from across the country.

Surprisingly, only 20 designs were submitted, including an anonymously submitted design from none other than Thomas Jefferson.

George Washington was disappointed.

None of them captured his vision, until, at the last moment, a late entry changed everything: William Thornton, a British educated physician, inventor, painter, and amateur architect.

Inspired by the Louvre in Paris and the Pantheon in Rome, Thornton's design overwhelmed George Washington with its grandeur, simplicity, and beauty.

Washington's enthusiasm was shared by Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, who loved the design as well, calling it "simple, noble, beautiful, and excellently distributed."

Thornton's design was selected for the United States Capitol Building.

He was awarded $500, given a parcel of land in the new city, and invited to serve as a commissioner.

On September 18th, 1793, the building of the People's Meeting Place began with the cornerstone ceremony: a full day of celebration in a city still under construction.

Soldiers from the Alexandria volunteer artillery arrived in formation.

Masonic lodges gathered, bringing ritual, symbolism, and unity.

And at the center of it all was George Washington.

He stepped forward and laid the first cornerstone carefully and intentionally.

Washington understood what this moment represented: not just the start of a new building, but the foundation of a new government; a place where laws would be debated, where power would be tested, where the voice of the people would shape the future, and where a "we the people" government would rise for the first time in the history of the world.

And yet, even as the vision for the nation's new capital took shape, the ideals of this new nation were about to be challenged.