16. Myth: Only Slaves Built the White House and the Capitol
Fact: There are records proving construction payroll for the services contracted by the US government.
When the District of Columbia was created by the cession of land by Virginia and Maryland, the skilled labor required to build the new Capital City was recruited in the United States and overseas. Response to the recruiting was poor. Collen Williamson, a stonemason, leased slaves using government funds and trained them to quarry stone at Aquia Virginia, which was shipped to the District of Columbia, where it was prepared by skilled stonemasons from Scotland and placed in the exterior walls of the buildings. Other slaves were leased, with payment made to their masters, to make bricks, saw wood, and perform rough labor.
It is often erroneously reported that only slave labor was used in building the White House and other of Washington’s public buildings, but slave labor certainly contributed, as the payroll records of the construction attest. The first occupants of the White House, the Adams’ family, did not own slaves, but Jefferson did and brought several to the White House to staff it while in residence. Slave labor also contributed to the rebuilding of the White House after the British burned Washington. So while it is inaccurate to say that the White House was built by slaves, it is correct that slave labor was used along with free blacks and skilled artisans from several countries, under the supervision of James Hoban, himself a slave owner.