Since the 1600s, slavery has been an integral part of US history and many of this nation’s founding fathers were slaveowners. For centuries, the institution of slavery formed part of the bedrock of the US economy and some of our most iconic landmarks are structures that were built by slaves. In fact, four of the most quintessential American sites in the Nation’s Capital were built by slaves, the White House, Mount Vernon, Capital Building, and the Smithsonian.
Enslaved people were involved in every aspect of White House construction—from the quarrying of stone, to the cutting of timber, to the production of bricks, to the physical labor of assembling its roof and walls. Enslaved people worked as axe men, stone cutters, carpenters, brick makers, sawyers, and laborers throughout each stage of construction from 1792 through 1800. While many authors and historians have dedicated scholarship and research to the construction of the White House, the stories of the enslaved people who performed the labor were often excluded entirely from this narrative.
The first mention of slavery in the commissioners’ records appeared on April 13, 1792, when they resolved to hire, “good laboring negroes by the year, the masters clothing them well and finding each a blanket, the commissioners finding them provisions and paying twenty-one pounds a year.” This course of action was not a new one, as many local slave owners had been hiring out their enslaved laborers to neighbors and businesses for some time. Owners collected a wage while continuing to provide clothing and some medical care. The commissioners typically provided workers with housing, two meals per day, and basic medical care. This arrangement allowed the nascent capital to reap the benefits of labor without bearing total responsibility for the workers’ general wellbeing. If an enslaved worker did not show up to work, the overseer simply docked the pay given to the owner.
The Capitol, which has housed Congress since 1800, is the most recognized symbol of democratic government in the world. Although this magnificent structure is visited by nearly five million people each year, very few are aware of the use of enslaved labor to build it. Capitol architect and district commissioner, Dr. William Thornton, a Quaker from Tortola in the British West Indies who owned enslaved people proposed two schemes to the design and construction commissioners appointed by George Washington. The first was to allow fifty “intelligent negroes” to earn their freedom by earning wages while working on the Capitol project for six years. The second idea was to purchase these enslaved men, train them to be stone cutters, and free them after six years of work. There is no record of the board’s response to Thornton’s suggestions and no certainty of any enslaved Africans earning freedom for their work on the Capitol.
Both enslaved and free men of color provided much of the arduous labor used to build the Capitol, including cutting and hauling stone, laying brick, digging trenches, forging nails, and clearing the land. These men probably worked twelve-hour days every day of the week for little or no pay. Some of these laborers were able to keep their earnings if they worked Sundays or at night, or if they were skilled craftsmen. Most owners received earnings of $5 a week for the labor of their enslaved men. While enslaved men were paid on average only pennies a day, free men of color were paid about $1 a day. Ironically, the Statue of Freedom that sits atop the Capitol was built by a slave named Philip Reid, who was paid a pittance of $1.25 per day.
Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington, was also home to hundreds of enslaved men, women, and children who lived here under Washington’s control. Washington depended on their labor to build and maintain his household and plantation. At the time of Washington’s death, the Mount Vernon estate’s enslaved population consisted of 317 people. Slavery was an active presence in Washington during the years that the first Smithsonian building was under construction, from 1847 to 1855. To the immediate south of the Smithsonian grounds lay two of the most notorious 'slave pens' in the region, where persons of color, many of them kidnapped or arrested on the flimsiest of pretexts, were held under horrific conditions pending their sale to points south.
According to meticulous research by historian Bob Arnebeck, over 200 known enslaved individuals labored on the White House and Capitol Building. However, there are likely many more enslaved people who worked on these federal building projects and remain unknown—their names are either lost to history or await future discovery. Determining anything more than an enslaved person’s first name is extraordinarily difficult. Their names are often denoted as the enslaved individual’s first name, their owner’s full or last name, and their owner’s signature on payrolls and timesheets from 1794 to 1800.
The first mention of slavery in the commissioners’ records appeared on April 13, 1792, when they resolved to hire, “good laboring negroes by the year, the masters clothing them well and finding each a blanket, the commissioners finding them provisions and paying twenty-one pounds a year.” This course of action was not a new one, as many local slave owners had been hiring out their enslaved laborers to neighbors and businesses for some time. Owners collected a wage while continuing to provide clothing and some medical care. The commissioners typically provided workers with housing, two meals per day, and basic medical care. This arrangement allowed the nascent capital to reap the benefits of labor without bearing total responsibility for the workers’ general wellbeing. If an enslaved worker did not show up to work, the overseer simply docked the pay given to the owner.
The Capitol, which has housed Congress since 1800, is the most recognized symbol of democratic government in the world. Although this magnificent structure is visited by nearly five million people each year, very few are aware of the use of enslaved labor to build it. Capitol architect and district commissioner, Dr. William Thornton, a Quaker from Tortola in the British West Indies who owned enslaved people proposed two schemes to the design and construction commissioners appointed by George Washington. The first was to allow fifty “intelligent negroes” to earn their freedom by earning wages while working on the Capitol project for six years. The second idea was to purchase these enslaved men, train them to be stone cutters, and free them after six years of work. There is no record of the board’s response to Thornton’s suggestions and no certainty of any enslaved Africans earning freedom for their work on the Capitol.
Both enslaved and free men of color provided much of the arduous labor used to build the Capitol, including cutting and hauling stone, laying brick, digging trenches, forging nails, and clearing the land. These men probably worked twelve-hour days every day of the week for little or no pay. Some of these laborers were able to keep their earnings if they worked Sundays or at night, or if they were skilled craftsmen. Most owners received earnings of $5 a week for the labor of their enslaved men. While enslaved men were paid on average only pennies a day, free men of color were paid about $1 a day. Ironically, the Statue of Freedom that sits atop the Capitol was built by a slave named Philip Reid, who was paid a pittance of $1.25 per day.
Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington, was also home to hundreds of enslaved men, women, and children who lived here under Washington’s control. Washington depended on their labor to build and maintain his household and plantation. At the time of Washington’s death, the Mount Vernon estate’s enslaved population consisted of 317 people. Slavery was an active presence in Washington during the years that the first Smithsonian building was under construction, from 1847 to 1855. To the immediate south of the Smithsonian grounds lay two of the most notorious 'slave pens' in the region, where persons of color, many of them kidnapped or arrested on the flimsiest of pretexts, were held under horrific conditions pending their sale to points south.
According to meticulous research by historian Bob Arnebeck, over 200 known enslaved individuals labored on the White House and Capitol Building. However, there are likely many more enslaved people who worked on these federal building projects and remain unknown—their names are either lost to history or await future discovery. Determining anything more than an enslaved person’s first name is extraordinarily difficult. Their names are often denoted as the enslaved individual’s first name, their owner’s full or last name, and their owner’s signature on payrolls and timesheets from 1794 to 1800.
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