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.