When you're next in Washington, D.C. go look at the Washington Monument. After you have thanked God for George Washington, and, I would suggest, walked up to the Cathedral to him, stood at its base with your palms against the cold stone, and looked up -- it's a great view, then step back and take it in as a whole.
You will note the color of the stone changes about 1/3rd teh way up. If you ask the Park Service, you will be told that this is so because construction stopped just before the Civil War, and when the work was recommenced, the quarry had been excavated to a different stratum, so although the stone is the same, the color is different from that point up.
If you press for more, perhaps, but unlikely, perhaps the Ranger will allow that the construction stoppage was not caused by the Civil War, but by lack of funds and disagreement by the committee that was running the monument. I doubt you will learn anything more from any of the Rangers there.
Actually, what happened is that the Pope sent a stone to be placed in the building in honor of George Washington. It was from the Vatican and was engraved, "Republicae Americanae" (or something like that, my Latin don't work).
That the Pope would have any place in the momument to the great George Washington was greivous and serious to members of a certain political group, the American Party, aka "the Know Nothings." In the middle of the night, around 1854, they raided the construction site, tied up the watchman, nabbed the Pope's stone, broke it into pieces and threw it in the Potomac River.
They next effectively took over the committee and in shock at what had been done to accept the Vatican's gift, shut it down. Those outraged by their acts also shut down support for the project, and so the building remanied a stump for 20+ years.
So when you gaze upon that marvelous building and see the difference in color, remember that built into the monument to the nation's founder is also a monument to the great struggle he championed, the equality and rights of man, and the freedom of religion.
Thanks for the info. Strange that I've never heard this part of the story. /sarcasm>
Of course, we owe the de facto establishment of the government school system to the Know Nothing's too. Quite a legacy.