Swarns, Rachel L.

The 272 : the families who were enslaved and sold to build the American Catholic Church / Two hundred seventy two Two seven two Rachel L. Swarns. - First edition. - xviii, 326 pages, [8] pages of plates : illustrations (some color), map ; 25 cm.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [237]-313) and index.

Arrivals -- A church's captives -- Freedom fever -- A new generation -- The promise -- A college on the rise -- Love and peril -- Saving Georgetown -- The sale -- A family divided -- Exile -- New roots -- Freedom -- The profits.

"In 1838, a group of America's most prominent Catholic priests sold 272 enslaved people to save their largest mission project, what is now Georgetown University. In this groundbreaking account, journalist, author, and professor Rachel L. Swarns follows one family through nearly two centuries of indentured servitude and enslavement to uncover the harrowing origin story of the Catholic Church in the United States. Through the saga of the Mahoney family, Swarns illustrates how the Church relied on slave labor and slave sales to sustain its operations and to help finance its expansion." --Amazon.com.

0399590862 9780399590863


Catholic Church--History--United States
Georgetown University--History.
Jesuits--History.--United States


African Americans--History
Racism--United States
Reconciliation
Slavery--History--United States


Biographies

E445 .M3 / S94 2023

378.753