CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA-Lending credence to widely circulated rumors about the third president
of the United States, historians announced Monday the discovery of journals that suggest
Thomas Jefferson may have clandestinely fathered several other countries. "There was
always speculation that Jefferson had actually sired a number of independent nations,
and these documents found at his estate, Monticello, provide evidence that he was indeed
a Founding Father of more republics than just the one for which he's known," said University
of Virginia professor Sarah Gilden, adding that at least a few of Jefferson's secret countries
are believed to be in the Caribbean. "Entries from the journals seem to indicate that
Jefferson begot countriesfrom a number of territories he visited during trips abroad, countries
that most likely had no knowledge that they were in fact half-siblings of the United States.
Whether Jefferson was aware of the countries he himself fathered is unclear, but given his
prominence in American life, he certainly would not have wanted it made public." Experts have
also concluded that while not all the countries fathered by Jefferson have been confirmed, it
may be possible to identify them from a shared set of debilitating defects.