"...nine white and nine slaves working at the Capitol signed up, though, again, not all of them, especially the slaves who longed for home, worked all twenty-four days."
Quote from Slave Labor in the Capital, page 62
In December 1796 two crews mostly made up of hired slaves were sent to Paint Branch in Prince George's county to cut timber for the roofs of the Capitol and White House. The six laborers listed appear to have last names. However, in this case the last names are the names of the slaves' masters. For example, Jerry belonged to Susannah Mills. The hired slaves earned 1 shilling a day, about 13 cents, in extra wages that they could keep themselves.
I have no solid evidence that the slave and free laborers were given any volition in this save that they were paid extra wages. That suggests to me that their supervisors saw this especially difficult work, even dangerous, and did not want the workers to feel they were under compulsion to do it.
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