O'Reilly Reassures Us That Slaves Who Built White House Were Treated Well

Apparently there was some distress and disbelief among the right wing with Michelle Obama’s comment in her speech on Monday night that the White House was a “house that was built by slaves.” Of course, it would only seem plausible that a large neo-Classical building being constructed in the late 1790s and early 1800s in what is still considered part of the South would have used some slave labor to construct it. And historical records actually do show that slaves did in fact help build the White House although other workers were naturally also involved. Shockingly, Bill O’Reilly came to Michelle’s defense providing the full clarification that I guess he felt was needed. “Slaves that worked there were well fed and had decent lodgings provided by the government, which stopped hiring slave labor in 1802. However, the feds did not forbid subcontractors from using slave labor,” O’Reilly said. “So, Michelle Obama is essentially correct in citing slaves as builders of the White House, but there were others working as well.” I’m glad Bill could reassure us that the slaves were well fed and had OK lodgings. But it doesn’t quite take away from the fact that they were still slaves.