Congressional leaders unveiled two bronze plaques Wednesday commemorating the largely-unrecognized use of African-American slave laborers in the construction of the U.S. Capitol building.

“We’ve come here this afternoon to tell the rest of the story; to acknowledge the profound indignity that the slaves who helped clear this land and lay these stones must have suffered in building this great monument to freedom,”  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said at the unveiling ceremony. “To remind ourselves that for nearly a century after the Declaration of Independence was signed, an entire race of people in our country was denied the God-given rights about which Jefferson wrote in that immortal document."

The plaques – one each for the House of Representatives and Senate - state: “This original exterior wall was constructed between 1793 and 1800 of sandstone quarried by enslaved African-Americans, who were an important part of the labor force that built the United States Capitol.”

“Out of a dark chapter in our past – an age of equality denied, rights refused, a dream not yet realized – these masons, carpenters, painters and others gave us this house of liberty and this beacon of hope for our nation and, indeed, the world,”  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in prepared remarks. “In the words of President Lincoln: ‘We cannot escape history.’ And with this plaque, we embrace history. We celebrate it.”

The  plaques were  the result of resolutions passed last year in the House and Senate and  authored by Rep. John Lewis (D-Georgia) and Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Arkansas). Lawmakers formed a bipartisan Slave Laborers Task Force that probed the role slaves played in building the Capitol and contemplated how best to honor their contributions.

"This physical and permanent marker will pay tribute to the blood, sweat and tears of the African-American slaves who helped build this magnificent building and ensure that their story is told and never, never, ever forgotten," Lewis said.

Some 400 to 600 slaves were involved in the Capitol’s construction. They were rented to the federal government by slave owners in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Male slaves worked as carpenters, masons, rafters, roofers, plasterers and glazers in the building’s construction. Slave women and children were used to mold clay in kilns.

“Their tasks were backbreaking. Yet while condemned to a sentence of disgraceful injustice, they somehow found the strength to fashion the most graceful designs,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).  “Through blistering summers and biting winters in snake-infested quarries, they carved and carried the stones that would shape a structure in which leaders would shape a nation.”

The slave owners received $5 a month from the U.S. Treasury for use of their human property while the slaves received nothing for working 12 hours a day, six days a week during Washington’s sweltering summers and chilly winters.

“Imagine constructing this nation’s Capitol building with your own two hands. Imagine, in Washington’s oppressive summer heat and humidity, to chisel and pull massive stones out of snake-and-mosquito-infested quarry,” Lewis said. “Imagine the United States government paying your owner $5 a month for your labor - for your labor!”

McConnell pointed out that the slaves weren’t merely unskilled workers and told the story of Philip Reid to make his point. Reid, a slave from South Carolina, had worked in the foundry of Thomas Crawford, the man who designed the statue of former President Andrew Jackson that’s across the street from the White House in Washington’s Lafayette Park.

Philip Reid was pressed into service at the Capitol when the Statue of Freedom that sits atop its dome needed to be disassembled. The Italian sculptor who originally stacked the plaster model .....

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fy1200,For your information.Senator Jake Knotts of
South Carolina admitted on the floor of Senate that he was a Red Neck and proud of it.And there were
many more Red Necks in the chambers of the Senate.This is one of lthe reasons.The rebel flag flies on our statehouse grounds.Red Neck rebels are proud to be Republicans

by   
Jimmyg
June 18, 2010, 3:55 pm
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PLAQUE????!!!!???? WE COULD GET THAT OFF OF OUR TEETH!!! West Germany paid REPARATIONS to Israel---NOT that that would replace the MANY LIVES,lost---but if West Germany was to call Israel up and say--'uh,yeah,we have some plaques to give u for SOME of your PAIN and SUFFERING"---well the sacrIficial lamb--WOULD JUST HIT THE ROOF!!!

by   
Rubinisk
June 18, 2010, 3:53 pm
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ALERT: Obama's approval rating hits new low. Only 2 ticks and he'll be in the 30's. It took Bush 5 years to do it. What a long way to fall in such a short time. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll

by   
Fj1200
June 18, 2010, 3:47 pm
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People on here complain that I am overly critical of the dumbascraps. Well here is an excellent example. McConnell (R) said, "an entire race of people in our country was denied the God-given rights ". Pelosi (D) said, "we embrace history. We celebrate it.” WTF? Can't you see how out of touch and ignorant the dumbascraps are? Celebrate? That word should be no where near a slavery dedication.

by   
Fj1200
June 18, 2010, 2:25 pm
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If we dug our ancestors up from their graves and gave them all the Gold and Diamonds on earth it would not be enough..Save it because .It won't release the
United States from the hypocracy it presented to the world..In fact my state still celebrates the Confederacy and all that it represented.Which
means.If some states could,those same states would like to undo those rights we take for granted
Just ask the Republicans

by   
Jimmyg
June 18, 2010, 12:04 pm
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Sevennotrump-
Our ancestors worked their finger to the bloody bones for crackers to sit pretty, indians get restitution, gulf folks get restitution, and our ancestors get a motherphucking plaque. Ain't that a bytch!


This is the first time I agree with you, and your choice of words were funny as hell.

by   
Sharran0412
June 17, 2010, 7:55 pm
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The full story of contributions by blacks have never been told. Many towns/cities, inventions, etc were built/created by blacks who often received little or no pay. A new book entitled, "From Africans to African Americans" bring out a lot of these contributions.

by   
SPF
June 17, 2010, 2:38 pm
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Our ancestors worked their finger to the bloody bones for crackers to sit pretty, indians get restitution, gulf folks get restitution, and our ancestors get a motherphucking plaque. Ain't that a bytch!

by
Ann38

by   
Sevennotrump
June 17, 2010, 2:37 pm
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“This book is about the great still-unfolding massive crime of official and unofficial America against Africa, African slaves, and their descendants in America....”
Excerpt from the book "The Debt" by Randall Robinson. He talks about the building of the US capital building by slave labor in his book introduction. I don’t think a 12 X 12 plaque is sufficient to begin to cover the debt to Blacks owed by this country.

by
Soulofaman5.0

by   
Sevennotrump
June 17, 2010, 2:36 pm
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Dumb azz white girl, who calls yourself 19 different usernames, including Adrienne-pollypocket-uncletom-hoodtechie-itsinhim-natetwo-whatithink-macben-mrknowitall-fj1200-awf-onychi & 7 others be gone & take all of your insane clown posse, that is ALLYOU, using different usernames, POOF!

by   
Sevennotrump
June 17, 2010, 2:35 pm
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Dumb azz white girl, who calls yourself 19 different usernames, including Adrienne-pollypocket-uncletom-hoodtechie-itsinhim-natetwo-whatithink-macben-mrknowitall-fj1200-awf-onychi & 7 others be gone & take all of your insane clown posse, that is ALLYOU, using different usernames, POOF!

by   
Sevennotrump
June 17, 2010, 2:35 pm
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Dumb azz white girl, who calls yourself 19 different usernames, including Adrienne-pollypocket-uncletom-hoodtechie-itsinhim-natetwo-whatithink-macben-mrknowitall-fj1200-awf-onychi & 7 others be gone & take all of your insane clown posse, that is ALLYOU, using different usernames, POOF!

by   
Sevennotrump
June 17, 2010, 2:35 pm
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Our ancestors worked their finger to the bloody bones for crackers to sit pretty, indians get restitution, gulf folks get restitution, and our ancestors get a motherphucking plaque. Ain't that a bytch!

by   
Ann38
June 17, 2010, 2:13 pm
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Restitution complete. Let's move on peeps.

by   
Jiggy5
June 17, 2010, 11:41 am
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People on here complain that I am overly critical of the dumbascraps. Well here is an excellent example. McConnell (R) said, "an entire race of people in our country was denied the God-given rights ". Pelosi (D) said, "we embrace history. We celebrate it.” WTF? Can't you see how out of touch and ignorant the dumbascraps are? Celebrate? That word should be no where near a slavery dedication.

by   
Fj1200
June 17, 2010, 8:26 am
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“This book is about the great still-unfolding massive crime of official and unofficial America against Africa, African slaves, and their descendants in America....”
Excerpt from the book "The Debt" by Randall Robinson. He talks about the building of the US capital building by slave labor in his book introduction. I don’t think a 12 X 12 plaque is sufficient to begin to cover the debt to Blacks owed by this country.

by   
Soulofaman5.0
June 17, 2010, 5:48 am
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