John Tyler and slavery

U.S. president John Tyler owned as many as 50 slaves during his lifetime.^[1] According to a news item from 1943 on slave-owning presidents, "It is said that John Tyler sold one of his slaves to defray his expenses when he went to Washington to assume his duties as vice-president of the United States."^[2] The names of three people enslaved by Tyler are currently known to researchers through the historical record:^[3]

Armistead, a young valet who was killed in the explosion of the USS Princeton^[3]
James Hambleton Christian, a half-brother of Tyler's first wife Letitia Christian^[3]
Aunt Fanny^[1]

In the 1840s, abolitionist publisher Joshua Leavitt alleged that Tyler fathered multiple enslaved children.^[4]^[5]

Tyler is also alleged by descendants to have been the father of John Dunjee (born 1833), though this remains unproven.

References

^ ^a ^b "The Enslaved Households of President John Tyler". WHHA (en-US). Retrieved 2023-07-13.
^ Stimpson, George W. (June 15, 1943). "You'd be surprised: Slave-owning presidents". Corpus Christi Times. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ^a ^b ^c Holland, Jesse J. (2016). The invisibles : the untold story of African American slaves in the White House. Guilford, Connecticut. pp. 185–192. ISBN 978-1-4930-0846-9. OCLC 926105956.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ Crapol, Edward P. (January 2012). John Tyler, the Accidental President: Paperback Edition. Univ of North Carolina Press. ISBN 9780807872239.
^ https://www.presidentjohntylersenslavedhouseholds.com/tyler-paternity