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The Five Black Presidents of the United States of America

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Black Presidents and the One Drop Rule?

What is so significant about the one drop rule and why would that claim that some of our Unitied State presidents were African American?
Well the one drop rule is historical in nature and comes from a term that has been held in the United States that if ANY person with any trace of African ancestry is considered black (African-American) This form of thought was developed during the long years of institutionalized slavery and still holds a part of culture today. This particular rule did not focus on the "looks" of an individual but that of the "ancestors" by which a person came from.

Mainly because of the one-drop rule, there are many pale-skinned people who are considered black. In many of these instances, the person can actually have more white ancestry than black. This even happens today. During slavery, mescegination took place but because the mixing was from a person of African acenstry, they were still considered black. If they then had a child with a white person, the child would have been one-quarter black, but still considered black.

Because the fact that the one drop rule stood during the time in United States history, many of our presidents tried to hid the fact of their African Ancestry as well as define themselves as Caucasian or "white". Many of our presidents (as you will see in their pictures) looked more "white" than "black". Even though their outward appearance was distictfully more from a caucasian background, the one drop rule applied during their time which during their lifetime considered them black.

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Find out about your Presidents through U.S. History

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Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was born 13 April 1743 in Shadwell, Virginia. He is best known for being the third president of the United States as well as being the author of the Declaration of Independence.
Besides serving two terms as president, Jefferson served as vice-president, secretary of state, minister to France, congressman, governor of Virginia. For all that, Jefferson is best remembered as a champion of human rights and the lead draftsman of the Declaration of Independence.
What people may not know about his was that even though he was married Martha Wayles Skelton, she died in 1782, but had children with her.
However, there has been DNA tests in 1998 showed that Jefferson may well have fathered children by one of his slaves, Sally Hemings.
There is also a little known fact that there was a speaker during the time of Jefferson that stated the president was born of a half-breed Indian squaw and a Virginia mulatto father. There are also are allegations that after his mother Jane Randolph Jefferson died, he tried to get rid of her letters and memorabilia of his own mother.

Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson was born on the 15th of March 1767 in Waxha, South Carolina and died June 8th 1845.
Jackson is best know as the 7th President of the United States from 1829 to 1837 and also served two terms. He served in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Other accomplishments was that he ran the British out of New Orleans in 1815, governed Florida territory from 1821-23, was elected to the U.S. Senate by the Tennessee legislature in 1823 just to name a couple of accomplishments during his lifetime.
Another part of his life that people may not know is that he was the son of a White woman from Ireland who had intermarried with a black man. There is also written literature of the time that stated that he a brother that was also sold into slavery.

More about Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson born on March 15th. If you want to more about the president and his legacy, make sure to take the time to read about his life and how he contributed to the progress of our U.S. society.
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Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was born on the 12th February 1809 in or around Hodgenville, Kentucky and died on 15 April 1865 because he was assassinated with a gun.
Lincoln served as the 16th president of the United States and is best know for writing the Gettysburg Address and freeing Confederate slaves with the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. He also served in the Illinois General Assembly for eight years and in the U.S. House of Representatives for one term before his election as the nation's first Republican president.
We are told of his childhood that he was born in a log cabin and self educated himself by reading books and working himself by laboring splitting fences, then becoming as a country lawyer, to what he is best known for as his presidency.
What other facts about his ancestry that he is not known for is there are written publications that described Lincoln as very dark skinned and that he had coarse hair. He was known to have had a mother of "Ethiopian" ancestry and a father that was also of African decent but was not there during his childhood to raise him. During the times that he was president, there are also many cartoons that depicted Lincoln as a stereotypical "black man" and gave him racial nick names.

Read up on your History

Know Your History!!!

Here are some references that you can read about the Black presidents that have already served our country. You have the opportunity to look at their lives and find out what they about some of our "founding fathers" in grade school.
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Warren Harding

Warren Harding was born November 2nd 1865 in Corsica, Ohio. He was President from 1921-1923 but was ranked as one of the worst presidents of all time (may have his title taken though by our current president my thought will be in the future.)
He is best known for serving as Ohio's lieutenant governor (1904-06), for the Teapot Dome scandal, a messy tale of bribery, fraud, and federal oil reserves. Harding died suddenly with a heart attack in San Francisco during a 1923 cross-country tour and the country was ran by his vice president, Calvin Coolidge till the end of the term.
He is also known for being the first president to drive in an automobile to his inauguration. He and his wife, Florence King Harding, had no children together, he did have a daughter by a long time mistress. Even if this president's life seemed to be full of many shortcomings and scandal, he was known to have had African ancestry from both of his parents and was also requested to deny of his past during his presidency (which he did not) Harding also went to at Iberia College, which at the time was founded in order to educate fugitive slaves.

Calvin Coolidge

John Calvin Coolidge was born July 4th 1892 in Plymouth, Vermont. born: 4 July 1872. He was the 30th president of the United States. He is know for taking over the office as president after Warren Harding suddenly died from a heart attack and was sworn in by his own father in Vermont at 2:47 a.m. who was a notary public at the time. Before his time in the White House, he was a Republican Governor of Massachusetts and was recognized nationally for settling the Boston police strike in 1919 and also was known to have kept a low profile in the White House. He declined to run for re-election in 1928, and was followed by fellow Republican Herbert Hoover. Another maybe unknown speculation about him was that he may have had Indian as well as African ancestry from his mother. Calvin Coolidge's mother's maiden name was "Moor." which during that time was known in Europe used this word Moor the same way America used Negro for black at the time.
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Obama is now the President of the United States of America!!!

Need I say more. We have finally established a new president for the century. Everyone has experienced a moment that has taken place (more than one time) in our nation's history. The only thing that is different is that this President Obama really looks the part. No longer do we have presidents that had to hide who they really are and represented. There is a new age of identity and a face with a long line of others who have also were considered under the United States standards as "Black". May everything work to the well being of this country. May we look to the future with a president that will bring a change to the nations economy and a new understanding that everyone one can adhere to. Can we find adversity and live out our dreams with hard work...."Yes We Can."

The Inaguration

On January 20th, 2009,Barack Obama was Inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America. Many people who went to the special event, but do you know what really happens in a Inauguration? Let me give you some facts.

The Swearing in of the president of the United States of America happens when the person elected affirms their office with this saying;
an "enter on the Execution" of the office of the presidency:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. They also add "so help me God" to their statement.



The Inauguration usually happens at noon at the Unitied States Capitol in Washington D.C. Many other ceremonies happen through out the day and carries on a tradition of a wonderful and spectacular celebration. Here are other ceremonies that happen during Inauguration day:

Morning Worship Service
Procession to the Capitol
Vice-President's Swearing-In Ceremony
President's Swearing-In Ceremony
Inaugural Address
Departure of the Outgoing President
Inaugural Luncheon
Inaugural Parade
Inaugural Ball



I hope that everyone will be able to follow and enjoy this follow event on Tuesday Janurary 20th 2009.

Where to We Stand ?

How will America take a Black President today?

Barack Obama stands to be the "first" African-American man to be up and running for United States president. I would say that knowing some if this history on thep presidency that he may be the first one that will not be able to "pass for white" and would be the 6th African American President(per the one drop rule) if elected.
I feel that unfortunately that U.S. history has robbed many Americans of 'real' history and has made us think this would be the one true moment that African Americans have had a chance to run in the government as the president of the United States. We have had many black men who have had the chance to run in the white house since this country has been established. This presidency which as been added to be such that this pivotal moment that "may" happen....,has already taken place 5 times. Our four fathers were made up of a mixed race of people....as mixed as the people who live here today.

It makes me overjoyed to know that some of the most well known American presidents where of African American ancestry. I would encourage everyone to find out about their history, but also to look at this presidential election and the candidates for the views and issues that the U.S. is facing now and how these two candidates will be able to tackle the issues and create solutions. This moment if Obama is declared president would be just another part of U.S. "American History" and if so, will happy to alive to see it happen...again.

Love to hear from you

Do you think our new President can help us in our Economic Crisis?

  • SincerelySonya May 3, 2012 @ 12:10 pm | delete
    Simply LOVE your lens! Will be visiting your lens regularly!
  • BruceJackson1 Apr 28, 2012 @ 10:58 pm | delete
    I read J.A. Rogers some years ago and Jackson stood out for me since he was in office for the Trail of Tears, having both Black blood and some Indian blood. Self-hate is programmed and sadly makes people do some off the wall things.
  • JoshK47 Apr 22, 2012 @ 11:07 am | delete
    Interesting read, indeed. Thanks for sharing.
  • vegival Feb 21, 2012 @ 1:16 pm | delete
    I enjoyed reading your lens! Thanks!
  • DeannaDiaz Feb 21, 2012 @ 7:30 am | delete
    Great, informative lens! I found some great info here that I can share with my kids@
  • mihgasper Feb 21, 2012 @ 3:31 am | delete
    I certainly hope so, but i don't think president alone has enough power to do that. It has to team work.
    Very interesting lens by the way, thumbs up!
  • Evon Thomas Feb 2, 2012 @ 4:31 pm | delete
    He can do all things through Chirst watch him work.
  • Keioffa Jan 4, 2012 @ 8:23 pm | delete
    I love the information that's on this lens... I've always heard and saw that if you had a little Black in you that you were consider Black, but I never knew the proper term... Now I Know.. I also didn't know that those Presidents are partly Black.. Thanks for the knowledge!!
  • COUNTRYLUTHIER Sep 10, 2011 @ 2:00 am | delete
    Interesting, very interesting. I wonder if there was a light similar to a black light which could illuminate African genes definitively, who would refuse the light test? Great and scholarly work. Keep it up, certainly is food for thought about who may be related to who in our great country.
  • COUNTRYLUTHIER Sep 10, 2011 @ 2:00 am | delete
    Interesting, very interesting. I wonder if there was a light similar to a black light which could illuminate African genes definitively, who would refuse the light test? Great and scholarly work. Keep it up, certainly is food for thought about who may be related to who in our great country.
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