June 27th 2023.
As U.S. lawmakers commemorated the end of slavery by celebrating Juneteenth this month, many of them could have looked no further than their own family histories to find a more personal connection to what’s often called America’s “original sin.”
In researching the genealogies of America’s political elite, a Reuters examination found that a fifth of the nation’s congressmen, living presidents, Supreme Court justices and governors are direct descendants of ancestors who enslaved Black people.
Among 536 members of the last sitting Congress, for example, Reuters determined at least 100 descend from slaveholders. Of that group, more than a quarter of the Senate – 28 members – can trace their families to at least one slaveholder.
Among those lawmakers from the 117th Congress are Democrats and Republicans alike. They include some of the most influential politicians in America: Republican senators Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham and Tom Cotton, and Democrats Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth and Jeanne Shaheen.
In addition, Reuters determined that President Joe Biden and every living former U.S. president – except Donald Trump – are direct descendants of slaveholders: Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and – through his white mother’s side – Barack Obama. Two of the nine sitting U.S. Supreme Court justices – Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch – also have direct ancestors who enslaved people.
In 2022, 11 of the 50 U.S. states also had governors who are descendants of slaveholders, Reuters found. They include eight chief executives of the 11 states that formed the Confederate States of America, which seceded and waged war to preserve slavery. Two are seeking the Republican nomination for president: Asa Hutchinson, the former governor of Arkansas, and Doug Burgum of North Dakota.
Reuters found that at least 8% of Democrats in the last Congress and 28% of Republicans have such ancestors. The preponderance of Republicans reflects the party’s strength in the South, where slavery was concentrated. Although white people enslaved Black people in Northern states in early America, by the eve of the Civil War, slavery was almost entirely a Southern enterprise.
South Carolina, where the Civil War began, illustrates the familial ties between lawmakers and the nation’s history of slavery. Every member of the state’s nine-person delegation to the last Congress has an ancestral link. The state’s two Black members of Congress – Senator and Republican presidential candidate Tim Scott and Representative James Clyburn, a powerful Democrat – have forebears who were enslaved. Each of the seven white lawmakers who served in the 117th Congress is a direct descendant of a slaveholder, Reuters found. So too is the state’s Republican governor, Henry McMaster.
The new insights into the political elite’s ancestral links to slavery come at a time of renewed and intense debate about the meaning of the institution’s legacy and what, if anything, lawmakers should do about it. Such topics include what to teach about slavery and racism in America’s classrooms; the future of affirmative action in college admissions; and how to address the persistent inequality in income and wealth for Black households, including monetary reparations.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll for this report showed that white respondents who said they’re aware of having a slaveholding ancestor were more likely than other white people to support paying reparations: 42% backed the idea, compared to 24% who said their ancestors did not enslave people.
The Reuters examination reveals how intimately tied America remains to the institution of slavery, including through the “people who make the laws that govern our country,” said Henry Louis Gates Jr, a professor at Harvard University who focuses on African and African American research and hosts the popular television genealogy show Finding Your Roots on PBS.
Gates said identifying those familial connections to slaveholders is “not another chapter in the blame game. We do not inherit guilt for our ancestors’ actions.”
“It’s just to say: Look at how closely linked we are to the institution of slavery, and how it informed the lives of the ancestors of people who represent us in the United States Congress today,” Gates said. “This is a learning opportunity for each individual. It is also a learning opportunity for their constituency … and for the American people as a whole.”
In addition to the political elite Reuters identified — which include lawmakers representing northern states such as New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts — “there are millions of Americans who are descendants of enslavers as well,” said Tony Burroughs, a genealogist who specializes in helping Black Americans trace their ancestries.
Census figures from 1860 indicate that 1 in 4 households in states where slavery was legal enslaved people, according to data from IPUMS’ National Historical Geographic Information System. What’s unclear is how the proportion of lawmakers who descend from slaveholders compares to that of all Americans. Among scholars, there is no agreement on precisely how many Americans today have a forebear who enslaved people.
To be sure, many white Americans whose ancestors came to America before the Civil War have family ties to the institution of slavery, and Northerners and Southerners alike reaped enormous economic benefits from enslaved labor.
Ancestral ties to slaveholders have been documented previously for a handful of leaders, including Biden, Obama and McConnell. Scholars and journalists have also extensively examined slavery and its legacy, including how the North profited from the institution, and the role slavery played in decisions of past political leaders during the formation of America and after emancipation.
The Reuters examination is different. It focuses on the most powerful U.S. officeholders of today, many of whom have staked key positions on policies related to race. It reveals for the first time, in breadth and in detail, the extent of those leaders’ ancestral connections to what’s commonly called America’s “original sin.” And it explores what it may mean for them to learn – in personal, specific and sometimes graphic ways – the facts behind their own kin’s part in slavery.
To trace the lineages of the political elite, Reuters assembled tens of thousands of pieces of information contained in thousands of pages of documents. Reporters only considered evidence of slaveholding that occurred after the founding of the United States. Journalists also limited their research to direct lineal descendants of the present-day elite rather than building sprawling family trees that included distant cousins.Revised Text:
This month, U.S. lawmakers commemorated the end of slavery by celebrating Juneteenth. However, many of them had a more personal connection to America’s “original sin” than they may have realized.
A recent examination by Reuters found that a fifth of the nation’s current congressmen, living presidents, Supreme Court justices, and governors are direct descendants of ancestors who enslaved Black people. Among the 536 members of the 117th Congress, at least 100 have slaveholding ancestors. This includes influential politicians on both sides of the aisle, such as Republican senators Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, and Tom Cotton, and Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth, and Jeanne Shaheen.
Reuters also determined that President Joe Biden and every living former U.S. president – except Donald Trump – have direct ancestors who enslaved people. Two of the nine sitting U.S. Supreme Court justices – Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch – have the same. This year, 11 of the 50 U.S. states have governors who are descendants of slaveholders. This includes two who are seeking the Republican nomination for president: Asa Hutchinson, the former governor of Arkansas, and Doug Burgum of North Dakota.
South Carolina, where the Civil War began, shows the connection between lawmakers and the nation’s history of slavery. Every member of the state’s nine-person delegation to the last Congress has an ancestral link to slavery. This includes the state’s two Black members of Congress – Senator and Republican presidential candidate Tim Scott and Representative James Clyburn – as well as the seven white lawmakers and the state’s Republican governor, Henry McMaster.
These new insights into the political elite’s ancestral ties to slavery have sparked debate about the meaning of the institution’s legacy and the role lawmakers should play in addressing it. Topics include what to teach about slavery and racism in schools, the future of affirmative action, and how to address the inequality in income and wealth for Black households.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that white respondents who said they’re aware of having a slaveholding ancestor were more likely than other white people to support paying reparations.
To trace the lineages of the political elite, Reuters assembled tens of thousands of pieces of information contained in thousands of documents. Reporters considered evidence of slaveholding that occurred after the founding of the United States, and only focused on direct lineal descendants of the present-day elite.
The examination focused on the most powerful U.S. officeholders today, many of whom have taken key positions on policies related to race. It revealed, in breadth and in detail, the extent of those leaders’ ancestral connections to slavery. It also explored what it may mean for them to learn the facts behind their own kin’s part in the institution.
These findings show how closely linked America remains to the institution of slavery, including through the people who make the laws that govern our country. It is not about assigning guilt to our ancestors’ actions, but instead provides a learning opportunity for individuals, their constituencies, and the American people as a whole.
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