Brick by Brick (review)

It stands to reason that building a government seat in a swampy, remote area of a newborn nation might be impeded by labor pool problems. The movers and shakers behind the construction of the first White House solved the problem in part by using slave labor, paying the owners for leasing out their servants. Although the work was exhausting and the heat and disease and mosquitoes nearly unbearable, slaves nonetheless learned valuable skills on the job—skills that many of them would later parlay into extra paid work by which they might save money to purchase their freedom. Repeated phrases throughout Smith's rhymed verses, focusing particularly on the slaves' toiling hands and the pay that passes them by, suggest the cadence of a work song, while Cooper's stippled earth tone paintings highlight the set jaws, taut muscles, and weary but determined eyes of the laborers. A closing note offers a bit more historical background and a brief list of resources. Consider this as an imaginative supplement to units on the nation's capital.