Reuters conducted a thorough investigation of the family trees of American politicians this week, revealing that some of them had ancestors who held slaves.
More than 100 American leaders were identified in “America’s Family Secret,” section one of “Slavery’s Descendants,” who had connections to the country’s “original sin,” although few of them were ready to talk about it, according to the site.
The almost 7,000-word analysis opens with the statement that “100 lawmakers, two high court justices, 11 governors, and five surviving presidents are descended from slave owners.”
Donald Trump was the lone exception among the current presidents who had no ancestors who had been slave owners. It was discovered that relatives of Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden all participated in the heinous deed.
In 2020, Glenn Beck revealed information on Joe Biden’s ancestors’ involvement in slavery on his father’s side. Large-scale documentation was also included in Beck’s study.
“Joe Biden is another superb illustration. An individual who collaborated with segregationists is in some way free from cancellation. His anti-crime policy was completely at odds with what the left is presently advocating. How many African Americans were imprisoned as a result of that law? Once more, I enquire as to his exemption. How can Joe Biden look black folks in the eyes and tell them they aren’t truly black if they refuse to vote for him? Would it be something Donald Trump could say?” Beck stated at the time.
100 of the 536 members of the 117th Congress, according to research by Reuters, are descended from slaveowners. Moreover, a fifth of the Senate is included in that.
The article features a number of prominent figures, including Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark. ), Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Senator James Lankford (R-Okla.), and Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.
The names of direct ancestors who owned single or multiple slaves, their relationship to the leader (such as great-great-great-grandfather), the number of slaves they owned, images of the census and other records, and information about the individuals they held as slaves, when available, were all included for the leaders whose names were highlighted.
According to the news source, Reuters’ investigation is the first of its sort. They used a variety of sources in their investigation of America’s “political elites,” consisting of the Record Linking Laboratory at Utah’s Brigham Young University, digital state archives, books from the Library of Congress, the Daughters from the American Revolution Library, public information requests, among more.
