According to a Tuesday report from Reuters, five of the six currently serving US presidents are the direct descendants of slaveowners. The thorough study, which was published just days after the nation observed the federal holiday known as "Juneteenth," which honors the emancipation of African Americans, reveals that Donald Trump is the only living current or former US head of state who has no ancestry in slavery.
The current president Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter all have slaveowner ancestors, according to the study. According to the study, which looked at the extensive genealogies and census information of those who hold positions of power in Washington, D.C., Obama's ancestors have ties to slavery on his mother's side of the family.
According to the report, census records show that Biden's great-great-great grandfather owned a 14-year-old boy who was a slave in 1850. Regarding Biden's alleged connections to slavery in his ancestry, the White House made no comments.
According to Reuters, Trump's ancestors immigrated to the US from Germany in 1885, two decades after the US Congress abolished slavery. The study also discovered that two sitting US Supreme Court Justices, Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch, as well as 11 of the 50 governors of US states last year shared similarities with slavery.
According to the report, Republicans in Congress are roughly three times more likely to have ancestry ties to slavery. These numbers reflect Republican support in the South, which by the time of the US Civil War in the 1860s had a much higher concentration of support for the slave trade than the North. Of the GOP contingent, 28% have such ties, compared to 8% of Democrats.
The study also demonstrates that US lawmakers' ancestors were among the richest citizens at the time, with 75% of them being ranked in the top 10% of Americans prior to the abolition of slavery.
According to survey results released by Reuters/Ipsos in conjunction with the report, 23% of respondents said that a political candidate's ancestry may have something to do with how they vote. According to the data, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to not support such a candidate.
The current president Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter all have slaveowner ancestors, according to the study. According to the study, which looked at the extensive genealogies and census information of those who hold positions of power in Washington, D.C., Obama's ancestors have ties to slavery on his mother's side of the family.
According to the report, census records show that Biden's great-great-great grandfather owned a 14-year-old boy who was a slave in 1850. Regarding Biden's alleged connections to slavery in his ancestry, the White House made no comments.
According to Reuters, Trump's ancestors immigrated to the US from Germany in 1885, two decades after the US Congress abolished slavery. The study also discovered that two sitting US Supreme Court Justices, Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch, as well as 11 of the 50 governors of US states last year shared similarities with slavery.
According to the report, Republicans in Congress are roughly three times more likely to have ancestry ties to slavery. These numbers reflect Republican support in the South, which by the time of the US Civil War in the 1860s had a much higher concentration of support for the slave trade than the North. Of the GOP contingent, 28% have such ties, compared to 8% of Democrats.
The study also demonstrates that US lawmakers' ancestors were among the richest citizens at the time, with 75% of them being ranked in the top 10% of Americans prior to the abolition of slavery.
According to survey results released by Reuters/Ipsos in conjunction with the report, 23% of respondents said that a political candidate's ancestry may have something to do with how they vote. According to the data, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to not support such a candidate.
