John Adams - Slaves Building the White House

From HBO's 'John Adams.' The second president enters the newly constructed executive mansion and is alarmed by the hypocrisy of slaves forced to work on the construction.

• Category

  News & Politics

[FMJPatriot]

How do you own a person you ask....

Do you not have a mortgage on your new house filled with all of the newest "must have" gadgets, a loan on your new "cool" neighbor approved car(s)? Do you not work everyday to earn special government issued "coupons" called dollars just to then hand them over to the "masters" who hold these notes/mortgages over you?

Slavery is alive and well,

just dressed up in a neat little package with a pretty little bow on it.

Consume, Obey, Sleep...

[Nedyah74]

I love this scene because I love seeing the white house just built and thinking of all the future presidents that would inhabit it.

[surferray69]

Not many since it was burned to the ground during the war of 1812

[louthegiantcookie]

I really have no idea how humans were conned into such an absurd idea as slavery. It takes a special kind of fool to look at his fellow man, ignore his basic humanity and treat him as cattle. The whole concept baffles me, so illogical.

[azboomer1950]

Well, unlike real slaves where one is held in place by force of the law, today's "slaves" can come and go as they please. They don't force you to buy a house. You don't have to buy cool gadgets and a car if you don't want one. No one requires you to work against your will. Be that as it may, the government does take a big chunk of our money for (supposedly) the common good. We may not be slaves by definition, but the government does have a tendency to think of us as their slaves.

[madch0wder]

Hi



[espada9]

Actually you are wrong; in sub Saharan Africa there are few if any significant architectural or civil engineering accomplishments worth mentioning. In some Eastern African nations such as Ethiopia there are some impressive ancient structures. Face it the slaves were uneducated and used as laborers not engineers. Where they came from (West Africa) there were no engineers capable of building a neoclassical structure like the white house.

[espada9]

The only slaves building the White House were laborers, there were few if any educated craftsmen in the slave states, at the time the economy was agrarian not one of industry. There were some skilled black tradesmen in the north but very few. You are right; the white house was built primarily by skilled carpenters and architects, not slaves.

[Raymond Scott]

Blacks fought in every war.

More Blacks fought on the side of the British than the Americans

[Raymond Scott]

he is wrong

[TrynaGetBacToMyLuv]

Are you that ignorant? Look at the Africans with no western society building many strong things where they are at. It is called the human mind.

[Draikonz261011]

@fightenspirit You are right I stand corrected