Sorry, Obama Haters: Slaves Built the White House

The slaves who participated in constructing the White House were not paid, contrary to a conservative blogosphere talking point that emerged following Michelle Obama’s speech Monday night at the Democratic National Convention. “I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves,” Obama said on Monday, drawing criticism from onlookers arguing that slaves did not play a substantial role in building the White House, or that the slaves who built the White House were paid. Historians and fact-checkers have proven that this is not the case, and that while some laborers who helped build the presidential home were compensated, the slaves were not.