"The 272" confronts the complicity of the Catholic Church in the institution of slavery and the perpetuation of racial injustice. Slaughter examines the role of the Church in the slave trade, its economic reliance on enslaved labor, and the moral implications of its actions. Slaughter's compassionate storytelling and rigorous scholarship make this book essential reading for anyone interested in understanding the enduring legacy of slavery and the ongoing struggle for racial justice in the United States.

Just wow. I was left speechless after reading this book and gleaning all the information I could from between its pages. Informative and breathtaking. I will be reading more by this author as she continues to publish.

Couldn’t put this down - I was educated in the Catholic faith and school system and at a Jesuit university and had NEVER heard this horrific brutal history of the Catholic Church enslaving and selling enslaved people to keep Georgetown afloat (as well as profiting on enslaving people). This is the true recounting of the Mahoney family from colonial times in Maryland to the present day. Everytime I had a question while reading, I turn the next few pages and my question was answered by the brilliant author, Rachel Swarns. It’s a difficult read because the brutality is hard to face but this should be required reading for all Catholics. Highly recommend. Going to purchase copies for my family. Thanks to Random House for the copy.

Let’s get this out of the way first … slavery of any kind is evil; however, the underlying theme of this books is that the Catholic Church, specifically here in the American colonies, was somehow more duplicitous in their participation in this evil institution than any others of the majority … and that assertion was not demonstrated within this book … only implied.

The 272 are the slaves that were sold in 1838 by Georgetown University, a Jesuit learning institution that had poorly administered its finances to the point of near bankruptcy. That sale enabled to University to survive and eventually thrive to become the elite American college it is today. It is the contention of the authors that this success is the foundation of the American Catholic Church today … a statement that is only marginally supported by the following story of the Mahoney family with respect to GU272. In fact, the work as a whole frequency engages in the fallacy of composition by uses the Jesuit order in Maryland as a representative of the entire Catholic Church … despite the order actually being suppressed and reorganized outside of the Church for part of that history. In reality, what we see if that the Catholic Church in Maryland (representing a minority of the total state population) largely conforms to the beliefs and mores of the majority Protestants in the state, largely under the silent toleration of the Vatican (the authors go nearly two centuries to find Church support for slavery which had by this time started to significantly erode). This is not intended to let the Church, the Jesuit order or Georgetown University off the hook … only that such poorly constructed arguments make any discussion and reconciliation more difficult.

There is a lot to be angry about here. In fact, this book is designed to play on emotions; therefore it is important to be on the lookout for presumed inferences that enable the misinterpretation of the context in order to elicit the emotional response desired. Unfortunately, the book also engages in apparent exaggeration of the facts for the same purpose (which serves to undermines the academic validated of the whole piece). One such example from Chapter 2 where the authors state “By the early 1700s, enslaved Black people accounted for between two-thirds and three-quarters of Maryland’s workforce.” In fact, estimates of the slave population in Md for 1710 is only about 24% of the entire population … by 1755, nearly 40% of the state population were black; however, an estimated one-third of that number were actually free-blacks. Such exaggeration is hardly necessary to capture the evil that is chattel slavery and only serves to undermine trust in the later assertions by the authors.

Prologue
Chapter 1: Arrivals
Chapter 2: A Church’s Captives
Chapter 3: Freedom Fever
Chapter 4: A New Generation
Chapter 5: The Promise
Chapter 6: A College on the Rise
Chapter 7: Love and Peril
Chapter 8: Saving Georgetown
Chapter 9: The Sale
Chapter 10: A Family Divided
Chapter 11: Exile
Chapter 12: New Roots
Chapter 13: Freedom
Chapter 14: The Profits
Epilogue

I was given this free advance reader copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

#The272 #NetGalley

From the beginning of the settlement of America by Jesuits in the late 1600s with hopes of converting the local (Indian) populations, the Jesuits depended on slave plantations to financially support their efforts. No only did the Jesuits use the output of their slaves to pay for their "good works" but they made money by buying and the selling of slaves on their plantations in Maryland.

They were not adroit at running their properties financially and a lot of the money brought into the Society's coffers, was misspent, embezzled or literally never accounted for. In 1838, they found that the college in Washington DC (Georgetown College) was insolvent and close to bankruptcy. A decision was made to sell-off the majority of their slaves (The 272) many who had been promised they would not be sold or their families broken up.

Many slave families were broken up with mothers fathers children and kin sold off in different "lots" and to different places. Those few left in Maryland were never to see their relatives again. It wasn't until an article was printed in the NY Times in 2017, that this outrage was brought to the notice of the University and the Catholic Church. What follows is the reckoning for what happened.

I thought this would be a bit narrow in focus, but it uses that focus to bring out broader truths about the second middle passage and the end of slavery. It uses a few families owned by the Jesuits to make these broader points and to make a critique of so called “good” slave owners as well. Definitely worth the read.

This is a book about a worthy topic but I’m sad to say that the writing was uncompelling, so I often read other books when I had the choice.

Some people in the USA, it is alleged, say that they are largely not to blame for the outrages and cruelty of slavery because their family immigrated many years after slavery was abolished. I have never heard anyone say this myself, since I don’t get out much, but I have no problem believing that somebody, probably many people, said it, and continue to say it today. Let’s assume it is true that people said it, even say it frequently. This book (and the New York Times article that preceded it) is evidence that it is possible to arrive in the US after the abolition of slavery and still benefit from it. If you learned anything at Georgetown, you, however indirectly, benefitted from slavery because, without the proceeds of the sale of slaves, Georgetown University as we know it today would not exist. This book is about Georgetown but I don’t believe there is anything particularly unique about this university. Many things in the USA – buildings, organizations, institutions; religious and secular – share this quality. If you use them today, you benefit.

The Times article which preceded this book made a splash for good reason, but I simply don’t believe that the authors had enough information to expand this into a compelling book. The reason for this is, of course, that the enslaved victims, in keeping with the opinion of slave owners that slaves were less than human, neither made a record of their lives nor allowed them to do so themselves, holding people not only in slavery but also in ignorance, meaning, enslaved people were usually not allowed to learn to read and write. If an enslaved person managed, somehow, to teach themselves, and recorded the outrages that occurred routinely, it would have, if discovered, been treated as an act of outrageous defiance and punished very severely. It’s not a mystery why first-person accounts of enslavement are few and far between.

Sometimes, in this book, the author is fortunate enough to encounter and reproduce a rare example of the testimony of the anguish that slavery caused among the enslaved. Here’s one:

"A year earlier, while [a police constable] had been patrolling in the city, he had been called to the slave pen on Duke Street [in Alexandria, Virginia]. Someone had heard children screaming. A young enslaved woman in her twenties, who had been granted the freedom to live with autonomy until she had recently been sold, had decided that she could not bear for her children to return to a life of slavery. She had already strangled her two youngest children in the pen and was attempting to murder her two older children, beating their faces and heads with bricks 'by which they were horribly mangled'.” (Kindle location 2050)

More frequently, however, there is no information, dramatic or otherwise, at which time the author must fill in the blanks with unfounded, if very reasonable, speculation. This results in the frequent appearance of phrases like “We do not know whether…”, “No one knows whether…”, “And there is no description of…”, “It is unclear whether …”, and so on.

It is completely reasonable for the author to be outraged – what happened was outrageous then, and still is now. But I don’t think the author’s case is well served by attempts to tug the heartstrings like

"Louise and Anna would soon learn from their elders that a Black child’s value was not measured by her infectious laugh or her curiosity but her utility." (location 965)

or

"But for Anna, who was imprisoned on board the Katherine Jackson, the twisting tributary must have seemed like a river of tears." (location 2114)

I once read – I think it was also in the New York Times – that African-Americans docents leading white Americans through historically preserved Southern plantations sometimes had to endure knuckleheaded outrage because they (the docents) did not give sufficient space to the alleged existence of slaves who felt childlike satisfaction at the treatment they received from their benevolent masters. With opinions like this walking around apparently unmolested and unchallenged, it’s easy to understand why the author is outraged at the treatment of enslaved people, both described in this book and more generally, and wants to write about it. However, I think that this book, as written, won’t convince anybody who doesn’t agree already.

I received a free electronic advance copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

I will never, ever, understand, in my whole life, understand how people thought it was okay to enslave a people, simply because their melanin was darker than theirs. The more I learn, the angrier I get [and the more I want to learn - education is what will help us to NOT make the same mistakes and to help correct those that were made]. Which is why this is a must read book, especially right now, with the atmosphere of trying to erase history. HOW can we even think that taking something out of a book erases it or takes away the fact that free people were enslaved, lied to, had promises broken, families separated and destroyed all because their skin color was different than their oppressors? Slavery and the atrocities committed against a race of people can NEVER be erased and books like this and the brave authors that seek and write the truth will continue make sure history is taught and shown and when institutions such as Georgetown, once the truth has been revealed, think that an apology for such atrocities will be enough, will continue to help fight for more, though will anything ever be enough for the pain and suffering inflicted on a race of people who did nothing but exist? I think not. I think white america could apologize for the rest of our lives and it will never, ever, be enough.

Thank you to Rachel L. Swarns and her bravery and tenacity and for the depth of this book - thank you for sharing all you have learned and all you have done to help move this project forward; I am so inspired by you. Thank you to Karen Murry - Narrator for bringing this story to life and for making it even more real by the vocal telling of this story. It really brought the story to life for me and I am so glad I waited for the audiobook. Thank you also to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Random House for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fascinating! It’s mind blowing how little history is actually taught and discussed. I can’t wait to tell everyone I know about this.

Slavery and the American Catholic Church

In the 1800s, the Jesuits sold 272 enslaved people to finance their most important mission which became Georgetown University. The author tells the story of these people by following the family of Ann Joice. She was an indentured servant, but when her master destroyed her papers, she became a slave. Some of her descendants like Harry Mahoney helped save lives and the church’s money in the War of 1812, but his descendants, two daughters Anna and Louisa, were sold into slavery. Through the author’s reporting members on the family were able to reconnect and share their story.

I found this story upsetting and difficult to read, but it’s part of the history of what happened to enslaved people and an important book. Although it’s difficult to think of the abuses of slavery as part of the history of the Catholic Church, it’s something that needs to be faced. The morality of slave holding was viewed differently in the 1800s, but it is still hard to understand how the church could preach the Bible and still rip families apart because they were viewed as possessions that could be disposed of.

This is a book that everyone concerned about the history of slavery in the US should read. It is well written and researched. The story is made more poignant because the author followed one family. I highly recommend it.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for this book.

I am so grateful for this book. I remember reading the article about the two decedents meeting and how the school was trying to make things right, but I wanted the full story. This the full story! I love how incredibly researched this was. I really felt like I was getting to know the enslaved individuals.
If you care about history - read this one for sure.

This was an amazing book but also very difficult to read. As someone who grew up in Catholic schools, I was completely unaware of the slave history that the Church held. That they would use the Bible to justify their disgusting behavior is even more despicable. It does help me to better understand their silence during the Holocaust. Those that they deem less than are not worthy of saving or protecting. I did appreciate that over the years a few priests did speak up against slavery but sadly even the Vatican had no issue with slavery and did not support those priests. And I had always heard how wonderful the Jesuits are and how great their schools are. Well, know I know why their schools are so excellent. The amount of free labor they were able to use to fund the schools by selling slaves to pay off debts helped them to fund some of the best colleges and universities possible. All while destroying many innocent lives. And it’s incredibly sad how many of these families were separated for hundreds of years and only found each other because of a single article that was written about this tragedy. And while the university is working towards reparations and has formally apologized on behalf of the priests who destroyed their ancestors lives, nothing can ever truly atone for the horror and sadness these families have endured. A beautifully written story about a very ugly part of America’s history.

In 1838, 272 Enslaved Black people were sold to save Georgetown University by Catholic Priests! Jesuit priests kept entire families enslaved and do so for generations! When I heard about this, I had to read this book. It was eye-opening! All I can say, is this missing piece of history must be remembered.

This is the true story of a group of America’s most prominent Catholic priests who sold 272 enslaved people in order to save their largest mission project, Georgetown University. Rachel Swarns has found and followed one family through centuries to uncover this story of the Catholic Church in America.

This story covers the Mahoney family. Beginning with Ann Joice, the free black matriarch of the Mahoney family. She came to this country as an indentured servant. But soon after arriving in Maryland, those papers disappeared leaving her a slave. Her descendants were also enslaved.

We learn how the church used slave labor and the profits from slave sales to finance an expansion into the US. Promises were made and broken. Families were torn apart with some remaining slaves and some escaping but no one knew who or where the others were.

Until Swarns tracked them down and here tells their story. A story of slavery that was found in places you wouldn’t think there would be slaves. A church, for instance, but read that bible carefully. They always used slaves so it should not come as a shock now. But somehow it does.

I learned so much about my own history in this book. It was sad and I am very glad I read it.

NetGalley/ RHPG/ June 13, 2023

"The 272" tells the deeply tragic story of 272 enslaved people in the 1800's in Virginia, owned then sold by Jesuit priests to fund the continued development of a mission that became Georgetown University. This tremendous book follows one family through generations of slavery, eventual freedom, and the possibility of reparations by the Catholic Church to descendants of the original slaves. This story echoes the history of Franciscan priests in California using indigenous people to build missions up and down what is now the state of California. If these indentured workers ran away, they were recaptured and beaten. Despite the heart-breaking story "The 272" tells, it is very much worth reading and pondering. The author has done an amazing job of deep research and eloquent writing, and the book deserves a wide audience.

“The 272: The Families Who Were Enslaved and Sold to Build the American Catholic Church” by Rachel L. Swarns centers on a group of America’s most prominent Jesuit priests who, in 1838, sold 272 enslaved people of African descent in order to save what’s now Georgetown University. Author Swarns, according to the description, follows one family through 2 centuries of indentured servitude as well as enslavement to look at not only how these priests did what they did, but also the roots of the Catholic Church in the United States. The Mahoney family’s story is at the core of illustrating how the Church relied on the labour of enslaved people of African descent as well as the auctioning, selling, and buying of enslaved people to sustain themselves and finance their expansion.

Swarns opens the book with the account of Jeremy Alexander, an African-American man with roots in the South, although he was born and raised in Chicago. Through an ancestry DNA matching service, he had connected with a woman called Melissa Kemp from Maryland. She revealed they have a common ancestor, a woman named Anna Mahoney Jones, whose own direct ancestor was an enslaved woman of African descent named Louisa Mahoney Mason. Louisa and Anna were sisters. They were sold to separate owners in 1838. She also revealed that Jesuit priests who had founded Georgetown University had owned and sold his ancestors. This was doubly shocking because Alexander’s employer was Georgetown University.

“For more than a century, the American Catholic Church relied on the buying, selling, and enslavement of Black people to lay its foundations, support its clergy, and drive its expansion. Without the enslaved, the Catholic Church in the United States, as know it today, would not exist.”

Louisa and Anna’s ancestor from the 1600s was a free Black woman named Ann Joice, and she arrived in Maryland. The author then goes into her descendents, some of whom became freed while others never did.
This family history is another stark example of the importance and vitalness of orality and oral histories being passed down from generation to generation. Louisa and Anna were affected by the harsh rule that enslavers enforced—that it was illegal to teach any Black person how to read and write—a tool with which enslavers, including those in the Catholic Church, used in order to keep the human beings they owned as property silent, and acquiescent.

For readers who want to know more after reading and/or viewing the documentary adaptation of “The 1619 Project,” this book is essential in continuing that knowledge. Through learning about English Catholics who settled Maryland, the dangers they faced in England (they could be fined, imprisoned, deported, even executed for practicing their faith), to Lord Baltimore deeding 20,000 acres of land to Jesuits... it's not a widely known history and is essential to continuing our understanding of transatlantic slavery and its beginnings in the United States, as well as the role of the Catholic Church in profiting directly from enslaving people of African descent.

Upon learning that Ann Joice arrived in Maryland from Barbados and worked as an indentured servant, then because of a deal that her employer reneged on as he went back to England, which made her end up in the hands of someone who then enslaved her, was a gripping and painful history to read.

I wasn’t aware that a small number of Black people worked as indentured servants in Maryland, although the author asserts that by the 1660s, this number was rapidly shrinking. Ann believed that because of her patron, Calvert, that her work contract would be honoured and that she could become independent in a matter of 4 or 5 years. Ann believed the arrangement of her servitude was to be temporary, and that once she completed her term of indenture with Calbert, that she could go her separate way. But she was sent to work for Calvert's cousin, Henry Darnall, a wealthy Catholic, Maryland's deputy governor. He was the one who told her at the end of her indenture term that she was now an enslaved person who he owned. He burned her documentation papers that proved from Calvert that she was to serve a term of indenture, and in doing so, erased the evidence she had that she had been promised she could go free and become independent after finishing her term. Darnall shipped Ann away from his tobacco plantation to another white man who forced her into a kitchen cellar and imprisoned her underground. Her grandson, who later testified about this in court, didn’t describe details of what she went through. Joice's descendents eventually were sold to the Jesuits of Maryland, who became one of the largest enslavers in the state. Harry Mahoney was one of those descendants in the 1790s who worked at St. Inigoes, the Jesuit plantation near the banks of the Potomac River.

Coming back to Jeremy and Melissa's stories--the modern-day descendents of Joice--the reader learns how this history had a profound and personal impact on them, including Georgetown University's efforts around 2016 to begin to address the horrific past of what had happened there.

It's truly sickening to read what priests -- these supposed purveyors and disseminators of Christian values like kindness and charity, were doing--profiting from the enslavement of human beings to further their cause. Although people are now more aware of the Catholic Church's role in the residential school systems in Canada and the United States, of Pope Francis's efforts to face the issues of all the damage done to First Nations people in Canada, of the Church having to account for countless acts of sexual abuse by clergy on children, and so much more harm, many people are not as aware of the Church's role in transatlantic slavery and their profits from human suffering and misery. It is an essential story and one that needs to be recognized far more broadly.