They worked alongside European craftsmen, white wage laborers, and other free African-American wage laborers. Learn more about the construction of the White House here. Learn about our Slavery in the President’s Neighborhood initiative. A slave coffle passing the Capitol grounds, 1815, published in A Popular History of the United States, 1876.
Was the White House Built by Slaves? During her 2016 Democratic National Convention speech, Michelle Obama asserted that the White House had been built using slave labor. And she was right.
Did Slaves Build the White House? Slavery and the White House Construction on the President's House began in 1792 in Washington, D.C., a new capital situated in sparsely settled region far from a major population center.
Our rating Obama said the White House "was built by slaves." Strictly speaking, the White House was not exclusively built by slaves; it was built by a combination of slaves, free blacks and whites.