Jefferson-Hemings paternity debate

The Jefferson-Hemings paternity debate centers on the relationship between U.S. President Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, an enslaved woman he owned. Hemings, who was of mixed race, was inherited by Jefferson's wife and later lived at Monticello. It is widely believed that Jefferson and Hemings had a relationship that resulted in several children between 1790 and 1808.123

The allegations first surfaced publicly in 1802, but definitive proof was elusive for many years. While some of Jefferson's descendants claimed his nephew was the father, Hemings's descendants maintained that Jefferson was the father, based on oral history. In 1998, DNA testing on descendants of both Jefferson and Hemings indicated that Jefferson was almost certainly the father of at least one of Hemings's children, leading to a scholarly consensus that they were sexual partners. However, the exact nature of their relationship and the extent of Jefferson's paternity remain subjects of discussion.312