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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Science
Vishwam Sankaran

DNA study confirms Thomas Jefferson fathered children with enslaved Sally Hemings

America’s third president, Thomas Jefferson, fathered two children with the woman he enslaved, a new DNA study reveals, resolving one of the nation’s oldest and most contentious debates.

Jefferson was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, which said that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”.

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