In 2012, Congress unveiled an historic marker that commemorated the slave labor that went into the construction of the capitol. The area where the legislative center of the U.S. sits was previously known as Jenkins Hill, a heavily forested area that required extensive landscaping, as well as trench digging for the foundation, from slaves, all before George Washington laid the cornerstone in 1793. According to Fred Beuttler, a Historian for the House of Representatives, one of the building’s most iconic symbols, the brass Statue of Freedom, was in part, fashioned through the efforts of a Philip Reid, a former slave. In 1863, after the Emancipation Proclamation had been delivered, Reid helped work with the plaster model delivered by sculptor Thomas Crawford, and forged Crawford’s model. In addition, according to Beuttler, some of the sandstone in the old east front of the building contains the names of slave laborers who had cut the stone.

The country’s financial center was named after a wall that was built in 1653 to protect settlers from Indian raids. Freed and enslaved Africans formed a significant part of the labor pool that created the wall, as well as other infrastructure and buildings in what is now Lower Manhattan, including Trinity Church (there was a slave market at Wall and Water streets, and slave ships would dock at what is now the South Street seaport). According to the church’s archivist, the parish, which was founded in 1696, utilized slave labor at several points during its early history, with many early members contributing slaves to help construct the initial church (which burned down in 1776).

In a 2005 exhibit titled “Slavery and the Making of the University: Celebrating Our Unsung Heroes, Bond and Free,” the university displayed historical documents and records showcasing how the institution, founded in 1789, utilized slave labor to erect many early buildings. The Unsung Founders Memorial, unveiled in 2002, honors those "people of color bound and free" who helped build the university. UNC is far from the only institution of higher learning conducting similar research and striving to be more open about its own history, as many other universities have come forward in recent years with similar stories and monuments.

The oldest masonry fort in the continental United States, and a rare fortification that was controlled by four different governments throughout the centuries (Spain, Great Britain, the Confederacy, and the United States), this unique building was designated a National Monument. Construction by the Spanish began in 1672 with the creation of unique “coquina” walls. Spanish for “little shells,” the name refers to the unique masonry process, which combined baked oyster shells, lime, and sand to form a porous exterior that that held the fort together. Slaves, along with local laborers, Native Americans, and convicts, helped build the waterfront military installation.

The home and plantation of the nation’s first president ran on the labor of hundreds of slaves owned by George and Martha Washington, many of whom specialized in different trades, including woodworking and blacksmithing. Many of the structures spread across the grounds of Mount Vernon, including a unique 16-sided barn for grain processing and storage, were built by slave laborers and carpenters, often overseen by longtime head carpenter Thomas Green.

Founded by Thomas Jefferson, the esteemed southern university has always celebrated its traditions and heritage. In 2007, the school’s Board of Visitors passed a resolution expressing regret for the use of slaves and slave labor at the school, which were utilized in the construction of key buildings, including the central rotunda.