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Descendants of the Enslaved Held by the McCain Family
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by Karen Hatter | October 20, 2008 at 12:33 pm
2621 views | 39 Recommendations | 18 comments
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The Black McCains: The McCains that Sen_ McCain Does Not Acknowledge
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The first video is footage from CNN, which aired today, October 20, 2008, a segment called The Black McCains, that serves as an introduction to the Black side of the McCain family, who trace their ancestry to two enslaved persons who resided on the plantation owned by Senator John McCain's great great grandfather, William Alexander McCain.
Some may have learned of the descendants of the enslaved held in bondage by the McCain family in 2000.
A brief sketch and history of those 120 enslaved individuals, held on the Teoc plantation in Mississippi, appeared at Salon.com in an article entitled, McCain Ancestors Owned Slaves.
From Salon.com:
This documentation includes slave schedules from Sept. 8, 1860, which list as the slave owner, "W.A. McCain." The schedules list the McCain family's slaves in the customary manner of the day -- including their age, gender and "color," labelling each either "black" or "mulatto." The slaves ranged in age from 6 months to 60 years.
Douglas A. Blackmon, author of Slavery By Another Name, which tells of a form of slavery extended well into the Twentieth Century until the start of World War II, through the use of the prison camp system that existed throughout the Southern states in the United States, wrote an article, Two Families Named McCain, that appeared at the Wall Street Journal online on October 17, 2008.
From Mr. Blackmon's article:
Lillie McCain is watching the presidential campaign from a singular perspective.
A 56-year-old psychology professor whose family spans five generations from the enslavement of her great-great-grandparents to her own generation's fight for civil rights, Ms. McCain appreciates the social changes that have opened the way for Sen. Barack Obama to be the first major-party black contender for the White House.
WSJ's Douglas Blackmon speaks with Charles McCain Jr. and his sister Mary McCain Fluker, descendants of slaves held at the Mississippi plantation owned by the family ofSen. John McCain's great-great-grandfather. (Oct. 16)
But she also has an uncommon view on another American passage. Ms. McCain and her siblings are descended from two of about 120 slaves held before the end of the Civil War at Teoc, the Mississippi plantation owned by the family of Republican nominee John McCain's great-great-grandfather.
From an article at the South Florida Times.com, last updated October 20, 2008:
Sen. John McCain’s great, great grandfather, William Alexander McCain (1812-1863), fought for the Confederacy and owned a 2,000-acre plantation named Waverly in Teoc. The family dealt in the slave trade, and, according to official records, held at least 52 slaves on the family’s plantation. The enslaved Africans were likely used as servants, for labor, and for breeding more slaves.
William McCain’s son, and Sen. John McCain’s great grandfather, John Sidney McCain (1851-1934), eventually assumed the duty of running the family’s plantation.
W.A. “Bill” McCain IV, a white McCain cousin, and his wife Edwina, are the current owners of the land. Both told the South Florida Times that they attend the reunions. They also said the McCain campaign had asked them not to speak to the media about the reunions, or about why the senator has never acknowledged the family gatherings.
The Blackmon article states that Ms. McCain and her siblings support Senator Barack Obama for president of the United States.
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at 07:12 on June 29th, 2009
How can i fine out if my family was involve with this?
at 12:38 on October 20th, 2008
I apologize to any readers who attempted to read, Meet the Descendants of the Enslaved Held by the McCain Family, that was previously posted.
A glitch deleted my entire story! It now appears here at this post. Thanks to all who tried to read the earlier post!
at 13:36 on October 20th, 2008
Karen Hatter, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 15:36 on October 20th, 2008
Karen Hatter, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 15:42 on October 20th, 2008
Karen Hatter, I like this story. It's good stuff.
why am I not surprised about the subject? McCain still wants to enslave us
at 16:14 on October 20th, 2008
Karen Hatter, I like this story. It's good stuff. Unfortunately, most established American families will have plantation history in their genes, especially in the south, as that is what America was founded on - venturers, and the commodities of the day were sugar and slaves.
at 17:44 on October 20th, 2008
Karen Hatter, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 18:36 on October 20th, 2008
What I found most interesting about this history is, it was approximately 5% of the population that presumed to own enslaved persons in America, making the McCain family among the elite in America, a charge that has been leveled against the other candidate.
at 20:19 on October 20th, 2008
Karen Hatter, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 21:08 on October 20th, 2008
Karen Hatter, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 02:33 on October 21st, 2008
So they drank their Cabernet not out of a wine glass but a Mason jar?
at 05:01 on October 21st, 2008
Possibly, though I'd wager, if I were a gambler, they had a few pieces of lead crystal for company and show.
If I find the time, I may try to look into what else may have been grown on the plantation and sold, in addition to the enslaved that were bred for sale there.
at 06:13 on October 21st, 2008
Good stuff karen Hatter. Slavery, one of the most evil crimes in the history of the world but you cant judge a person by the actions of their ancestors. I am descended from quakers who campaigned for slaverys abolition but if I were a racist I should be judged as such. Who were the ancestors of the slave "owning" McCains ? Surfs? Basically slaves themselves
at 06:13 on October 21st, 2008
Good stuff karen Hatter. Slavery, one of the most evil crimes in the history of the world but you cant judge a person by the actions of their ancestors. I am descended from quakers who campaigned for slaverys abolition but if I were a racist I should be judged as such. Who were the ancestors of the slave "owning" McCains ? Surfs? Basically slaves themselves
at 13:42 on October 21st, 2008
Karen, I didn't realise it was as scarce as that. Thanks for the info. I can recommend the book Slaves in the Family by someone called Ball on a very similar topic. It is eye-opening.
at 18:34 on October 22nd, 2008
Great article Karen. Given this story, why should race even be a factor in this election? McCain is just as much a part of the African American population as Obama is.
at 04:01 on October 23rd, 2008
Thank you, Happy M.
Technically, the African American McCains' connection to Senator John McCain is that of being the descendants of those African American McCains presumed to be 'livestock' and belonging to the McCain family. It was the custom of slaveholders to catalogue the enslaved with the other livestock. In the case of the African American McCains, they maintained the name their family had been given.
It is not known if the African American McCain claim any blood ties, although, given the frequency with which the alleged owners 'used' their assumed female possessions, that possibility cannot be ruled out. Senator McCain has claimed in the past his family did not own slaves.
Genealogical studies in recent years have verified what has always been suspected by the African American community that, among those who have provided DNA for analysis, through the analysis, it has been confirmed that approximately 75% of African American's DNA can be found to contain Caucasian genetic material, when the mitochondrial DNA is examined. That means that the DNA was passed on through the female side of the African American family, unless, by a remote possibility, the DNA was provided by a White woman.
Somewhere way back when, if no recent unions are found, most likely an enslaved ancestor in the family, bore a child from a bi racial reunion. It was quite prevalent given the various designations that arose during the time period of slavery for keeping track of the amount of White blood 'in' a Negro: mulatto, quadroon, octoroon, etc.
at 22:52 on October 24th, 2008
technically everyone in the world is of african decent being that the first man was born in africa and migrated around the world from there..................................