Blacks who built the White House
By
John C Abercrombie
When the subject of slaves building the White House and Capital, many people don’t have a clue. Did slaves really contribute to the construction of these iconic buildings and the heritage of the nation?
As we delve into the question, we need to keep in mind that the District of Columbia is on land ceded by the pro slave states of Virginia and Maryland. Also keep in mind that the city of Washington was laid out as a square, to be 10 miles on each side, but looing at on a map, it has a ragged side. This is because the capital was to be a slave free site and the slave market was located on the other side of the Potomac. By keeping it out of the city, the market could continue to flourish.
The original intent was to recruit labor from Europe, specifically Ireland and Scotland to build these buildings, but recruitment efforts fell well short of expectations. This forced the use of domestic labor, much of it being provided by Blacks both slave and free.
At this point we come face to face about a failing of most mainstream historians, those who write our familiar textbook. They all write about the same events, people and places. They avoid controversy at all costs and omit anything that may encourage a divergent point of interest.
Including facts is not rewriting history anymore than omitting it means it didn’t happen.
Congress put together a task force to investigate the matter in 2005. They reported that there was no doubt that Blacks were intricately involved in the work, however it would be near impossible to tell the full story due to “Indifference by earlier historians, poor record keeping, and the silence of the voiceless classes have impeded our ability in the twenty-first century to understand fully the contributions and privations of those who toiled over the seven decades from the first cornerstone laying to the day of emancipation in the District of Columbia,” Senate Historian Richard Baker and Chief of the House of Representatives Office of History and Preservation Kenneth Kato wrote in a foreword to the report that investigated the matter.
Documentation exists that shows many of Washington’s most recognizable buildings including the White House were built by slaves. Slaves were involved in all aspects of construction including carpentry, masonry, plastering, glazing, painting and laborers. They also did grueling work such as sawing logs and stones.
When First Lady Michelle Obama took the stage during the first night of the Democratic National Convention, she talked about how it felt to be a black woman waking up in the White House every morning—a building constructed with slave labor. It was a powerful moment in her speech, hearkening back to the generations of African Americans forced into bondage in this country. Up until a few decades ago, little attention was paid to looking into who actually laid the foundations and put up the walls of the White House. But what documentation exists today shows that many of Washington, D.C.’s most iconic government buildings, including the White House, were built by slaves.
In 2005, Congress put together a task force to shed light on the subject. After months of research, the commission announced that while it would never be able to tell the full story of the slaves who built these buildings, there was no doubt that they were intricately involved in the work, Alexander Lane reported for PolitiFact.
“Indifference by earlier historians, poor record keeping, and the silence of the voiceless classes have impeded our ability in the twenty-first century to understand fully the contributions and privations of those who toiled over the seven decades from the first cornerstone laying to the day of emancipation in the District of Columbia,” Senate Historian Richard Baker and Chief of the House of Representatives Office of History and Preservation Kenneth Kato wrote in a foreword to the report.
From a geographical standpoint alone, it should come as no surprise that slave laborers were used to build the nation’s capital. Washington, D.C., was built on landed ceded to the federal government by Virginia and Maryland, and at the time the Potomac region was home to almost half of the country’s 750,000 slaves, Lane reports.
While the White House Historical Association reports that the D.C. commissioners originally tried to bring cheap workers over from Europe to build the new capital, their recruitment efforts fell short. As a result, they forced local slaves to provide the labor, often renting workers from their masters for year-long periods of time.
“Slaves were likely involved in all aspects of construction, including carpentry, masonry, carting, rafting, plastering, glazing and painting, the task force reported,” Lane writes. “And slaves appear to have shouldered alone the grueling work of sawing logs and stones.” Slaves quarried the stone used in government buildings.
Many of the records show the government contracting with slave owners for the labor. S laves were not paid for their labor. Instead, the slaveowner was paid for the labor of their human property. Records show many examples of this such a Ben, Daniel and Peter were carpenters, but their salary went to James Hoban their owner. James Hoban is the Irish architect who designed the White House.
Phillip Reid (some list him as Reed) was instrumental in the Statue of Freedom that rests on top of the Capital dome. Reid was owned by Thomas Crawford, the sculptor commissioned to build the statue. Crawford was paid $1.25 per day for Reid’s work; however, Reid was paid directly for his work done on Sundays with the other 6 days of the week going to Crawford. Reid was self-taught, showing a great deal of intellect, creativity and practically, raising the question of why laws would be passed to prevent such talented people from being taught to read and write.
Much history has been lost because America did not value Black people or their contributions to building not only the physical buildings, but the fabric of the country.
We also suffer under the delusion that the only thing Blacks were capable of doing was picking cotton. A brief look at history will uncover many skilled craftsmen and artisans as well as entrepreneurs, given the opportunity.
To see an example of skilled and architecturally trained people of the time, look at the post on Horace King.
While this post focuses on slaves who actually built the buildings, it is of interest to note that of the first 12 presidents, 10 owned slaves with the exceptions being John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams. Zachary Taylor is the last president of the United States to own slaves during his presidency. Ulysses S Grant was the last president to own slaves during his lifetime.
Enslaved and free labor was also used to rebuild the White House following the War of 1812.
Washington, DC was not the Metropolitan City it is today. Acquisition of building materials was of great concern. Enslaved Blacks ere used as quarrymen, sawyers, brick makers, carpenters and laborers to fashion raw materials and transport them to the White House.
Washington, DC was constructed on farms and forest land. All had to be cleared of a myriad of trees. Hills had to be leveled. Stone had to be transported to the construction sites.
It is somewhat ironic that a city representing democracy and freedom would be built by enslaved people, but that was the way things were during the days of slavery and in the surrounding states. This is one of the reasons there is so little documentation of the work and workers. The National Archives has records of enslaved people being paid for work, but the records are sparse and contain limited information. For example, enslaved workers were only listed by their first name and that of their enslavers.
In 2012 a commemorative marker citing the enslaved Blacks was unveiled. The marker focuses on a block of Aquia Creek sandstone that was originally part of the East front portico of the Capitol.
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The Black History of the White House
The Black History of the White House presents the untold history, racial politics, and shifting significance of the White House as experienced by African Americans, from the generations of enslaved people who helped to build it or were forced to work there to its first black First Family, the Obamas.
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A Colored Man’s Reminiscences of James Madison are the memoirs of Paul Jennings and President James Madison
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Book David Walker’s Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World 2015
Reprint of Third and Last edition of 1830. David Walker was an outspoken African American abolitionist and anti-slavery activist. In 1829, while living in Boston, Massachusetts, he first published his famous “Appeal”, a call for black unity and self-help in the fight against oppression and injustice. The work brought attention to the abuses and inequities of slavery and the obligation of individuals to act responsibly for racial equality, according to religious and political tenets. At the time, some people were outraged and fearful of the reaction that the pamphlet would have. Many abolitionists thought the views were extreme. Historians and liberation theologians cite the “Appeal” as an influential political and social document of the 19th century. Walker exerted a radicalizing influence on the abolitionist movements of his day and inspired future black leaders and activists.
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Audible Audiobook David Walker (1796-1830), the son of an enslaved man and a free black woman, was an entrepreneur, abolitionist, author and anti-slavery activist. In 1829, he published An Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World, aradical call for black solidarity and resistance to slavery.
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The Slaves that built the White House
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The Slaves Who Built the White House
This video dives into the actual construction of the White House. Who designed it and who constructed it? Now, the focus will be on the enslaved labor that helped to construct the White House as well as the Capitol building, it will dive into other sources of labor that helped put the United States’ capital city together.
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More than 300 enslaved African Americans helped build and staff the White House
The White House Historical Association is exploring the history of those enslaved people with an online exhibit called “Slavery in the President’s Neighborhood.”
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More than 300 enslaved African Americans helped build and staff the White House
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The Slave Who Helped Assemble the Freedom Statue in Washington DC
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Philip Reid the SLAVE who BUILT the STATUE OF FREEDOM Philip Reid was a slave who cast the Statue of Freedom on Top of the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.
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With the number of slaves in the area, it should come as no suprise that they indeed did construction. It is the country that denies the contribution of slaves that is most shocked. History has been ditorted to ensure the vital contributions are excluded. Research is paving the way for the truth.