Thomas Jefferson

publication date: Thursday, August 4, 2016 (part of Summer 2016)

clue: Americans both black and white can claim this independence-declaring founding father to be their ancestor, but they can't claim him to be James Madison.

explanation: Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. A group of African Americans claiming to be descended from Jefferson and his slave Sally Hemings were vindicated when a DNA test showed that they were indeed related to him. more…

intended difficulty: easy

do-over: This was a "do-over" goo, inspired by incorrect guesses for a previous goo.

solved by: Russ Wilhelm, Steve West, LaVonne Lemler, Chris Lemler, Richard Slominsky, Justin Woods, Matthew Preston, and Jesse King

trivia: This goo was inspired by incorrect guesses for a goo of James Madison.

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