The White House
It’s the sanctuary that houses U.S. presidents fighting for democracy - and yet, it was built with the free labor of our enslaved ancestors.
The architect responsible for its 1792 construction even earned $60 for every enslaved worker he owned. That’s an estimated $83 million in reparations owed.
The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Enslaved Africans also built the meeting place of our nation’s legislature, the U.S. Capitol. It took 30 years to complete, and guess who didn’t get paid for their hard, skilled labor?
Instead, slave owners received an estimated 385 payments! The Statue of Freedom crowning the building - which our ancestors ALSO helped build - is probably weeping.
Wall Street
It’s no surprise owners forced enslaved “property” to construct the epicenter of American capitalism, Wall Street. Named after an actual wall enslaved Blacks built in 1653, it soon would house one of the largest slave markets in the States.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
As the oldest public university in the nation, slave labor was instrumental in many of the campus’s early buildings. The school continued utilizing enslaved hands until slavery was abolished in 1865.
Faneuil Hall
Coined the “cradle of liberty,” Boston’s Faneuil Hall only stands thanks to slavery. Slave owner and trader Peter Faneuil used money he gained from the business of dehumanizing and enslaving Black folks to fund the construction.
Despite this history, it remains a popular space for politicians to deliver speeches.
Next time you see an ancient building, remember our ancestors, and who really built America.