Obama Related to First Slave in America
- 12 years ago
Obama Related to First Slave in America - as part of the news series by GeoBeats.
Ancestry.com, a family history website claims that President Barack Obama is the 11th great-grandson of John Punch, the first documented African slave in American history. The website explains that John Punch was an indentured servant in colonial Virginia who was declared a slave for life after he failed to escape slavery in 1640.
What is really interesting is that The Ancestry.com made the connection between John Punch and Obama through President's Caucasian mother's family. Their research revealed that his mother's ancestors have roots tracing back to Sub-Saharan Africa through John Punch.
An Ancestry.com genealogist told CNN - "We have two of the most significant Africans in our country's history being directly related to each other"
Obama's ancestral past has been studied extensively with much fascination.
The New England Historic Genealogical Society released a report in 2008 noting that Barack Obama can call atleast 6 US Presidents his distant relatives and they include George W. Bush, Gerald Ford, and Lyndon Johnson. Not only that, the Hollywood superstar Brad Pitt is Obama's ninth cousin, linked by Edwin Hickman who died in Virginia in 1769.
Ancestry.com, a family history website claims that President Barack Obama is the 11th great-grandson of John Punch, the first documented African slave in American history. The website explains that John Punch was an indentured servant in colonial Virginia who was declared a slave for life after he failed to escape slavery in 1640.
What is really interesting is that The Ancestry.com made the connection between John Punch and Obama through President's Caucasian mother's family. Their research revealed that his mother's ancestors have roots tracing back to Sub-Saharan Africa through John Punch.
An Ancestry.com genealogist told CNN - "We have two of the most significant Africans in our country's history being directly related to each other"
Obama's ancestral past has been studied extensively with much fascination.
The New England Historic Genealogical Society released a report in 2008 noting that Barack Obama can call atleast 6 US Presidents his distant relatives and they include George W. Bush, Gerald Ford, and Lyndon Johnson. Not only that, the Hollywood superstar Brad Pitt is Obama's ninth cousin, linked by Edwin Hickman who died in Virginia in 1769.