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Smithsonian DNA Study Links Thomas Jefferson to Sally Hemings Descendants
Researchers said DNA from Jefferson hair and 16 living descendants produced the strongest evidence yet that he fathered children with Sally Hemings.
- On Tuesday, Smithsonian scholar Richard Kurin released a study confirming a 99.9% probability that President Thomas Jefferson fathered children with Sally Hemings, an enslaved woman he held at his Monticello estate.
- Decades of debate prompted the genomic investigation, as previous studies relied on Y-chromosome markers which could not definitively rule out other male relatives, such as Jefferson's brother, Randolph Jefferson.
- Researchers utilized an innovative technique to extract DNA from rootless hair samples found in the Jefferson Bible, allowing scientists to analyze autosomal DNA rather than the limited male-line lineage used previously.
- Genetic evidence definitively links the descendants of Madison Hemings and Eston Hemings to Jefferson, with odds of less than one in 1,000 that he was not the biological father.
- Kurin described the findings as a "capstone" to years of research, potentially allowing descendants of both Martha Wayles Jefferson and Hemings to view themselves as part of one complex American family.
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Thomas Jefferson’s DNA punctures US’ slavery ‘amnesia’
New analysis using a strand of hair from former US president Thomas Jefferson has effectively settled a longstanding, acrimonious debate: He almost certainly fathered children with Sally Hemings, a young black woman he enslaved.The scientific discovery, announced last week, is the result of a collab
·Taipei, Taiwan
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DNA evidence from Thomas Jefferson's hair reveals the truth about his relationship with Sally Hemings
After spending years reconstructing DNA fragments, scientists have revealed the most compelling evidence to date that Thomas Jefferson also fathered children with Sally Hemings, an enslaved woman.
·Salt Lake City, United States
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The genetic material does not lie: the third US president, Thomas Jefferson, had children with a slave with a very high probability. The analysis reveals a lot about the past – and also about the present.
·Munich, Germany
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Total News Sources99
Leaning Left20Leaning Right8Center44Last UpdatedBias Distribution61% Center
Bias Distribution
- 61% of the sources are Center
61% Center
L 28%
C 61%
11%
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