A community manager with a background in American Studies. My opinions and things that I find interesting in American politics, culture, history, and social media.
Over a quarter of U.S. presidents were involved in slavery
“Slave sale, Charleston, South Carolina,” wood engraving, by an unknown engraver, page taken from the Illustrated London News, 1856. Courtesy of the British Museum, London. Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
President Obama recently invited French President Francois Hollande on a tour of Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s plantation estate in Virginia.
Jefferson—No. 3—was not the only slaveowning president.
As Clarence Lusane, professor of political science at American University writes in his book The Black History of the White House and talks about in this interview with Amy Goodman on DemocracyNow!, six of twelve slave-owning presidents kept slaves in the White House.
Historical map shows the distribution of slavery in the US in 1860
In 1961, the United States Coast Survey created a map showing the distribution of slavery across the US South based on data from the 1860 Census. The map was often consulted by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War and even appeared in a 1864 painting. via OpenCulture.
Map Showing the Distribution of the Slave Population of the Southern States of the United States Compiled from the Census of 1860. Sold for the benefit of the Sick and Wounded Soldiers of the U. S. Army. By E. Hergesheimer (cartographer), Th. Leonhardt (engraver) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASlavePopulationUS1860.jpg