Recorded number of slaves who built or worked at the White House 1792-1850

According to records regarding the White House (i.e. census data and purchase or rental contracts), at least 201 slaves were known to have been hired from their owner to help build the White House and Capitol Building between 1792 and 1800. The source details that many slaves involved in this feat were undocumented, therefore the number of slaves who actually took part was likely much higher. Similarly, records also show that there were a number of slaves recorded as living or working on the White House grounds until 1850, during the tenure of ten of the first twelve U.S. presidents. It is important to note, however, that these figures apply only to the slaves who moved with the president to the White House (or were hired from their respective owner), and this data is not reflective of the number of slaves owned by U.S. presidents throughout their lifetimes.

Of these first twelve presidents, John Adams and William Henry Harrison were the only to not have slaves living with them in the White House, although Harrison was an advocate of slavery and was a slave owner during his lifetime. Adams' son, John Quincy Adams, also held a strong anti-slavery stance throughout his political career, however, when John Quincy's sister-in-law and brother-in-law died in 1813 and 1815 respectively, their four children went to stay in the White House and brought with them a small number of slaves.