The 272 : the families who were enslaved and sold to build the American Catholic Church Cover Image

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The 272 : the families who were enslaved and sold to build the American Catholic Church / Rachel L. Swarns.

Summary:

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 powerful 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.

Record details

ISBN: 9780399590863
ISBN: 0399590862
Physical Description: xviii, 326 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), map ; 25 cm
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: New York, NY : Random House, [2023]

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 237-313) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	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.