How did Slavery End At Georgetown?
The United States of America is a nation built by slavery— a direct contradicton to its promises of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Slavery’s legacy is embedded within the United States; American institutions, sovereignty, and existence all emerge from the history of enslavement. Georgetown is no different. This needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and reconciled with. In doing so, we, Georgetown students, must evaluate the institution's complex role in the history of enslavement.
Georgetown University, a prestigious Catholic university, is a product of the Atlantic world, as the American, French, and Haitian revolutions shaped its success, existence, and populated its campus.1 Georgetown’s deep and heinous relationship with slavery paved the social and financial conditions which promoted its prosperity and sponsored its operations. Enslaved people were subjugated, commodified, and exploited by Georgetown for the sole purpose of profitability. Profit for Georgetown was not only an economic gain, but a religious one as well, as the Maryland Jesuits were justifying slavery as a lawful way of committing their duty to God by collecting the souls of enslaved people.2
The end of slavery at Georgetown was a perplexing idea and a gradual process. Our collection of sources try to create a timeline of events which show the transformation that occurred in Georgetown, where freedom and emancipation brought upon a new narrative onto the lives of enslaved people. The question remains: In what ways did slavery end at Georgetown?
1 Adam Rothman and Elsa Barraza Mendoza, Facing Georgetown’s History (Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, 2021), 14.
2 Adam Rothman and Elsa Barraza Mendoza, “A Sermon on the Treatment of Slaves, 1749” in Facing Georgetown’s History (Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, 2021), 114.
Bibliography
Rothman, Adam and Elsa Barraza Mendoza. Facing Georgetown’s History. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, 2021.
Rothman, Adam and Elsa Barraza Mendoza. “A Sermon on the Treatment of Slaves, 1749” in Facing Georgetown’s History, 114-115. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, 2021.
This exhibit was created by the students in the Fall 2021 course, HIST106: Atlantic World, at Georgetown University Qatar. The course members assembled these materials to help members of the GUQ community participate in an informed way with ongoing discussions about slavery, memory, and reparations at Georgetown University, drawing on sources from the Georgetown Slavery Archive and the research of the Working Group on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation.