The United States Capitol

‘The United States Capitol’ by Theophile Bouchet Galliano pays homage to an important, and perhaps forgotten page in the history of the United States of America. A powerful image that highlights the crucial role played by enslaved African Americans in building the United States Capitol.

The Capitol of the United States of America is one of the most symbolically important buildings in the country. It stands "as a monument to the American people and their government". The home of the United States Congress and the seat of the legislative branch of the U.S. federal government for more than two centuries.

On Tuesday, February 28, 2012, the U.S. Congress commemorated the crucial role played by workers, including enslaved African Americans, in the construction of the Capitol. For the occasion, a slave labour marker was installed and unveiled in a prominent location in the Emancipation Hall. The marker represents a single block of sandstone from Aquia Creek, originally part of the East Portico of the Capitol, presented on a marble platform.  A bronze plaque is centered on the display wall above the marker with the inscription: 'This sandstone was originally part of the eastern front of the U.S. Capitol, built in 1824-1826. It was quarried by workers, including African-American slaves, and commemorates their important role in the construction of the Capitol.

In 1793 in Washington, D.C., when construction of the Capitol building began, skilled labour was hard to find and attract in this fledgling city, which at that time was little more than a rural landscape with dirt roads and few boarding houses. Enslaved labourers, who were then rented from their owners, were involved in almost every stage of construction for one simple reason: to ensure that the new capital would be ready to host Congress when it left Philadelphia for Washington in 1800, the federal government relied on the slave labourers as a hardworking workforce.

The site of the new capital was located in an area where there were few carpenters, masons, stonemasons, and other artisans needed to build such a large project. Engineers and architects were brought in from other areas, but most of the work was carried out by local workers, most of whom were African-American slaves. These slaves quarried the stone used for the floors, walls, and columns of the Capitol, sawed wood and stone, and became skilled in the making and laying of bricks. Carpentry was also one of the most important contributions of the slaves to the construction of the Capitol, as they framed the roof and installed its shingle covering.

Although the total contribution of enslaved African-Americans to the construction of the Capitol building cannot be determined due to the paucity of documentation, there is sufficient information to know that the role they played had a significant impact on the project. 

This is why, in addition to giving concrete form to a story that does not have a history, this drawing has a stake, that of recalling a key historical fact and revealing its contradictions: the Capitol, which would not have existed without the essential contribution of these slaves, would later be known as the Temple of Liberty.

The current Black Lives Matter movement is the continuation of a long history of the claiming forces of this country, and the inevitable consequence of the perpetuation of its internal contradictions. Théophile Bouchet Galliano affirms here his vision of history so that it remains alive in the memories, and for what it allows for the recognition of minorities and emancipation.