Was slave labor used in rebuilding the White House?

Question

Michelle Obama recently gave a graduation address in which she said.

every single day ... I wake up in a house that was built by slaves

While slave labor was used in building the white house, that house was burned by the British during the war of 1812. I'm curious whether the subsequent reconstruction involved slave labor.

As the original structure was built at least in part by slave labor, the First Lady's comments seem appropriate regardless of the answer. I'm simply curious whether the current White House in which she wakes up every morning was actually built by slaves.

Answer 1

The British intentionally set fire to the Whitehouse in 1814; it was seriously damaged, but not destroyed.

Whitehouse in 1814 after the fire.

The Burning of Washington describes the background, the events, and the aftermath in detail. The restoration took several years. This book may provide the details you are looking for; but based on the records for other projects undertaken previous and subsequent to the restoration of the Whitehouse, slave labor was almost certainly applied to this project as well.

After all, many slaves were skilled workmen, whose services were sold by their owners.

Answer 2

There is a serious flaw in the logic. Most people have no idea that Eisenhower moved out of the White House to completely rebuild the structure ADDING a subbasement and removing nearly all (if not all) the original foundation. They saved the front facade and most of the two side facades and zero of the back of the structure. So, technically, she wakes up in a house that saved most of three facades that was partly constructed by slaves. We know the original was partly constructed by slaves because of Abigail Adams own diary containing the admonishment that she would not live a house constructed by the sweat of those enslaved. I don't remember complete accuracy, but she may never have slept in the original structure at all -- partly because of this fact. But the structure in which Ms Obama awakes has zero slave content with the partial exception of most of three facades.