Explore the U.S. Elite’s Ties to Slavery

The nefarious ancestral heritage of some American government representatives that hold power in our name. We have a long history of people in this country that are intrinsically linked to the original sins (Slavery and Genocide) of this nation, and they hide in plain sight.
Reuters found that 119 of America's most influential leaders have a slaveholding ancestor. Explore information about their forebears and the people they enslaved.
Explore the U.S. Elite’s Ties to Slavery - Reuters
In an examination of the genealogies of America’s political elite, Reuters found that at least 118 of the country’s most influential leaders — presidents, lawmakers from the last sitting Congress, governors and Supreme Court justices — have a slave holding ancestor.

In notifying political elites of their family ties to slave holding, we identified which of their ancestors enslaved people, how many people that ancestor enslaved, and how many generations removed that ancestor is from them.

We also sought comment from each public official to understand how learning about their family connection to slavery might affect them personally, and whether that knowledge might inform their views on policy matters.

In some cases, Reuters discovered documents that included the names of those enslaved by ancestors of the elites. In those instances, the names of the enslaved are pictured, along with links to explore the full documents that contain those names.

That information and more can be seen by searching by name (below) or by clicking on a leader’s photograph.