Faith Tong Week 8- land of the freeee
Faith Tong Week 8
Land of the Freeee
Since I wasn't really sure what to write about for this blog post, I searched up interesting facts about America and I found something quite shocking. Apparently, the White House was built by slaves? When America is called the Land of the Free? This is starting to sound a lot like hypocrisy, which I have come to a realization America does quite often throughout its history.
It all started when the government officials realized they needed workers to build the White House. So they decided to ask workers in Europe to help them build the White House. Since not enough workers from Europe came, the government officials decided to ask enslaved and free African Americans to help build the White House for them. So picture this: a small amount of European workers alongside a majority amount of African-American workers. Is that really "The Land of the Free"? Not only did they help build the White House, they also built other U.S. government buildings. According to White House History, they "participated in every stage of building construction, from the quarrying and transportation of stone to the construction of the Executive Mansion."
The picture I get is that mainly slaves, or African American workers were forced into helping building the White House and other government buildings. Did they even get paid? It's unfair how these people are forced to go and build a whole capital for a government who doesn't even allow them as a people to have rights or even vote. I also noticed in the article that the European workers were informed they could volunteer to help participate in building the government buildings. On the other hand, the government officials "asked" African Americans to "get their work done". This is a display of unfair treatment towards African American slaves and kind of ties into the whole racism issue. It also reminds me of how back then there was a term called Social Darwinism, where the "fittest survive", aka white people. It's a really messed up belief and ties into the irony of slaves existing in the Land of the Free.
My question to you is: Is the Land of the Free really free for all? Slavery still existed even as the White House was being built. The only freedom and independence gained was for the Americans and not really for any other racial group.
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