Michelle dishing out BS, but then why are we surprised? There was a shortage of laborers with so many D.C. construction projects happening at the same time, including the building of military fortifications. Initially they planned to import workers from Europe to meet their labor needs. However, response to recruitment from outside the U.S. was not good, (not much has changed has it) and so they turned to African American—enslaved and free, including local white laborers and artisans as well as immigrants from Ireland, Scotland, and other European nations. The way she tells it gives an entire different picture.