James Hoban’s Workforce (Washington, 1795): The Enslaved Laborers Hidden Behind the White House скачать в хорошем качестве

James Hoban’s Workforce (Washington, 1795): The Enslaved Laborers Hidden Behind the White House

When construction began on the White House in the 1790s, the young United States wanted a symbol of freedom and democracy. But the labor that built it told a very different story. Dozens of enslaved men were hired out from nearby plantations to quarry stone, cut timber, fire bricks, and carve the architectural details that still define the building today. Their names rarely appeared in official records. Payments went to their owners, not to them. Among those workers were skilled craftsmen, masons, carpenters, and laborers whose hands shaped the walls of what would become the most powerful residence in the world. Visitors admire the White House as a monument to American history. Few realize that the foundations of that monument were laid by men who had no freedom at all. Hashtags #WhiteHouseHistory #AmericanHistory #HiddenLabor #SlaveryInAmerica