- Mar 9, 2011
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They should immediately be torn down and monuments erected in place, to honor those slaves who built them.
Change my mind.
"Construction on the President’s House began in 1792. The decision to place the capital on land ceded by two states that permitted slavery—Virginia and Maryland—ultimately influenced the acquisition of laborers to construct its public buildings. The commissioners for the District of Columbia, charged by Congress to build the new city under the direction of President George Washington, initially planned to import workers from Europe to meet their labor needs. However, response to recruitment was dismal and soon they turned to African Americans—enslaved and free, but primarily enslaved—to provide the bulk of labor that built the White House, the United States Capitol, and other early government buildings. Most of these enslaved laborers were hired out from slave owners from southern Maryland, northern Virginia, and Washington, D.C. on a contract basis. The owners collected a wage from the commissioners while providing clothing and some medical care to the enslaved laborers. The commissioners typically provided workers with housing, two meals per day, and basic medical care."
Slavery and the White House
"In 1815, abolitionist Jesse Torrey wrote these condemnatory words about the irony of American slavery and freedom while observing the ruins of the U.S. Capitol Building, burned by British troops during the War of 1812. Since its inception, the U.S. Capitol has symbolized democracy and liberty to the American public—but like the White House, enslaved laborers played a crucial and oft overlooked role in its construction, excluded from the very freedom it embodies."
Enslaved Labor and the Construction of the U.S. Capitol
Change my mind.
Slavery and the White House
"Construction on the President’s House began in 1792. The decision to place the capital on land ceded by two states that permitted slavery—Virginia and Maryland—ultimately influenced the acquisition of laborers to construct its public buildings. The commissioners for the District of Columbia, charged by Congress to build the new city under the direction of President George Washington, initially planned to import workers from Europe to meet their labor needs. However, response to recruitment was dismal and soon they turned to African Americans—enslaved and free, but primarily enslaved—to provide the bulk of labor that built the White House, the United States Capitol, and other early government buildings. Most of these enslaved laborers were hired out from slave owners from southern Maryland, northern Virginia, and Washington, D.C. on a contract basis. The owners collected a wage from the commissioners while providing clothing and some medical care to the enslaved laborers. The commissioners typically provided workers with housing, two meals per day, and basic medical care."
Slavery and the White House
Enslaved Labor and the Construction of the U.S. Capitol
"In 1815, abolitionist Jesse Torrey wrote these condemnatory words about the irony of American slavery and freedom while observing the ruins of the U.S. Capitol Building, burned by British troops during the War of 1812. Since its inception, the U.S. Capitol has symbolized democracy and liberty to the American public—but like the White House, enslaved laborers played a crucial and oft overlooked role in its construction, excluded from the very freedom it embodies."
Enslaved Labor and the Construction of the U.S. Capitol
